


She-Ra: Codename Resurrection

by elpenor



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Romance, Canon Compliant, Canon Continuation, Canon Era, Canon Universe, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, High Fantasy, Humor, Multi, Post-Canon, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Sequel, Unofficial Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 69,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24308452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elpenor/pseuds/elpenor
Summary: The Horde is gone. Good riddance. But the galaxy has spent thousands of years under its tyrannical heel, and dozens, perhaps hundreds of planets have been stripped of their magic. The Best Friend Squad saved Etheria, and now it's up to them to bring magic back to the universe.---Direct canon continuation / direct sequel to She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Heavily canon-compliant, focused on the absurd psychological depth that this children's show has to offer. I am a professional writer. Why am I doing this.Also, join the discord! https://discord.gg/Ya2fz8F
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 251
Kudos: 508





	1. PROLOGUE I: A Delicate Waltz

That evening was a feast, an enormous event that spilled from the gates of Bright Moon Castle and into its well-kept, grassy campus. Queen Glimmer declared it an official holiday about an hour in, adding she would "name it later." There were thousands of guests to attend to, and all of them were wrapped up with a frenetic energy, bursting into song and dance and then settling into contemplative peace in a chaotic tango. Tomorrow would come tomorrow; today they would celebrate.

In the great marble halls of Bright Moon Castle, among the swirling crowds, Adora and Catra danced. Lost in one another, drunk on victory, immune to the subtle glances from strangers, remaining silent and near one another, they danced as the evening crawled by. Tomorrow would come tomorrow.

* * *

_Seconds stretch out as Adora's grip on the cliffside loosens. In the time it takes for her to inhale as though to speak, her eyes widen, her mouth opens, and her fingers fall from the stone one by one. In her expression, there is nothing but terror, and as her pale face disappears into the darkness below, her words, whatever they may have been, are swallowed. Above, Catra stands at her full height and feels a smile creep across her face._

_But it's not right. Suddenly, a sharp coldness pierces her diaphragm. The sensation spreads through her in a wave and then disperses, leaving behind only a gaping hollowness._

For a moment, the moonlight blinded her, and she raised her arms over her face defensively. Then, she recalled where she was. Over the past few days, she'd been awoken several times by her dreams, something that had never happened before. Frankly, it was getting on her nerves.

She rose to a sitting position, looking around the room. It was vast and dark and empty. Feathers from the ruined bed were scattered across the white and violet tiles - it was too soft to sleep in, and it turned out to be fragile as well. Just like everything around here, fragile and soft. She finally fell asleep in the corner on the floor, probably a few hours ago. But she couldn't tell.

She brought her knees to her chest and sighed, a long, calming sort of sigh, but it didn't work. She'd never once slept alone. It made her nervous. And that wasn't all; the fragments of the dream, although mostly forgotten, upset her stomach. Ever since the sparkly one - Glimmer - led her to her own room the night before, she'd felt something gnawing at her, a faint hint of that frustration that had been driving her for years.

She closed her eyes and pushed away the desire to break something. She'd figured when she woke up everything would be more clear - at least, it wouldn't be as lightheaded and dreamlike as the day before. But, for now, it seemed to be more of the same, and it was beginning to wear on her.

Moments later, she'd opened the door and had begun making her way silently through the wide, decorated halls, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "Why is it so cold in the magical castle?" she muttered, scowling at the cold, scowling at herself. "Waste of time. You should just grin and bear it. You're gonna wake her up."

It took her a bit of wandering, but, if her memory was correct, she'd found Adora's room.

She froze as soon as she reached out for the door, suddenly overwhelmed with apprehension. "Waste of time," she muttered again, feeling her face grow warm, and knocked.

A few seconds passed as Catra was carried away again by her thoughts. They were half-formed, more felt than reasoned. Then, the door opened. Lit from behind with the cool bluish light of the glowstones, Adora stood, staring. For a moment, it seemed like she was going to speak, but she said nothing.

The memory of her dream ran through Catra, and she shuddered. "... Did I wake you?"

Adora shook her head, still silent.

"I can't sleep," Catra offered, pulling her blanket tighter around herself. "These rooms are too empty."

"You too, huh?" Adora replied lowly, offering a hand.

Catra hesitated, then took it carefully, and Adora led her into the room, the door closing slowly behind her. For a moment, Catra looked away and grabbed her wrist, aware of the implications. She glanced back, hesitated again, and decided against addressing those implications at all. But she smirked when she saw Adora still had that perfect little tuft of hair on top of her head, though it must have been well after midnight. "You put your hair up just for me?"

Adora laughed, took her by the shoulder, placed a hand on her cheek, and drew her into a kiss. It was the first time since the day before. Finally, proof that it wasn't just a rogue daydream. She melted into it, and it was suddenly as though all of her apprehension was somewhere in the distant past, irrelevant to here and now and her and them.

* * *

She awoke with a gasp. The memories of the dream immediately faded, but she felt her claws digging into flesh for half a second before they did. Instinctually, she checked the corners of the room, which was now lit by the soft light of just before sunrise. She closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself, turning towards the window. Adora was beside her, sharing her covers.

A pang rushed through her. She reached out cautiously to touch her bare shoulder, stopping just before she did. It seemed almost too good to be true, and if something seems that way, it usually is. She sat up and rubbed her face.

Then, the bed stirred. She swallowed the instinct to hop away as Adora sat up behind her. "Catra?"

"It's nothing."

"I didn't even ask what's wrong yet." She moved a little closer and Catra felt a warm hand on her shoulder. "But I'm going to."

"Like I said, it's nothing." She pulled her knees to her chest again and turned a little. Adora obviously wasn't buying it. She huffed. "I don't know."

"Tell me."

Catra clenched her teeth, and the impulse to snap at her went away. It was replaced by a sudden, torrential welling of unclear emotions. "I don't want to make a mistake," she said. It spilled out of her mouth like a confession. "I've made so many."

In the quiet, cool light, Adora frowned, that earnest expression of worry that Catra had come to hate.

"Don't look at me like that," she murmured. "I just - I know I've hurt a lot of people. I've hurt you," she added, the phrase caught in her throat. Her eyes began to burn. "What if this just helps that keep happening? What if… us, together… what if it just hurts you more? Because it's _me_ , Adora. If I'm around, I'm sure I'm going to ruin _someone's_ day." She rubbed her eyes and wrapped her tail around herself, wanting for a moment to shrink away to nothing.

"Catra -"

"How is anyone ever supposed to get over everything I did and get _used_ to me?" She paused, putting her head on her knees. "Maybe I should just go."

Adora sighed. "Look," she said, taking Catra by the shoulders and turning her around to face her. "Do you have any idea how long I waited for you to even start asking questions like that? Do you know what it means?" She moved a little closer. "It means you care."

Catra frowned, looking away. "Keep it to yourself."

"Point is, as long as you care… I can work with that." She put a gentle hand on Catra's cheek and guided her back to eye contact. "Maybe no one else will care back. Or maybe it'll take them a while. But I'll always be here." She smiled. "It would be nice if you were always here, too."

At that smile, something broke in Catra. There was no energy left to be angry. She felt the tears falling, and as soon as she did, wrapped Adora into a deep embrace. "I almost killed you…" she managed. "You almost died. I don't know what I would have done."

"Well, you didn't."

"That's not the point!" she yelped, pulling away. "The point is that I meant to do it! And… and I can't believe I meant to do it."

"It's because we didn't realize sooner," Adora replied, her voice low. "If we did… maybe none of this would have happened." She shook her head. "But thinking about that now won't change anything."

"Be honest," Catra hissed. The tears wouldn't stop now. Some dam, somewhere in her mind, had broken open. "It's _me_ who needed to realize. You think that if you hit me with an 'I love you' six months ago that I would have dropped everything and changed?"

Adora paused. "It could have helped."

Catra couldn't help but laugh. "You idiot," she sighed. "You -"

She was cut off by a kiss, this one far more gentle and pointed than any of the others. Once again, she found herself lost in it. A warmth ran through her as she felt Adora's hand move to her neck. "I can say it now, can't I?" Adora nearly whispered. "I love you."

"Alright, okay," Catra stammered, drying her cheeks. "Sap. You better not tell anyone about this," she added, tapping a claw against Adora's forehead.

"Your secrets are safe with me." Adora stretched a little and lay back down. "I want to talk like this with you more."

Catra followed, resting against the few pillows that remained on the bed. "Don't count on it." She took a deep breath, in, out, and let the tension leave. She'd been learning that breathing helped. But there were still fragments of dreams nagging at her, and she stared up at the tall, dark ceiling, her thoughts churning in her mind. She felt Adora embrace her from behind, and momentarily sunk into it. Then she bristled. "Hey," she cried, perking up, "in what universe are you the big spoon?"

Adora snorted and turned onto her other side. "We'll come up with a schedule."

"You wish." She pulled Adora tightly to her, settling her head carefully down against the back of her neck. Gradually, she felt their breathing sync as the sun began to rise. Just before she drifted off, she pressed her forehead against Adora. "I love you too," she whispered.

For the rest of the night, she dreamed of dancing.

* * *

The door slammed open.

"Everyone gets Continue-the-Party Pancakes! Glimmer said she couldn't think of a P-word for 'continue.' Adora, do -"

Catra sat bolt upright. Adora did, too, yanking the covers up around both of them. "Bow!" she shouted. "Knock!"

Catra's eyes focused just enough to see the boy - Bow, as she was reminded - holding a platter full of colorful pancakes and blushing red as a tomato. "No pancakes! I lied!" he cried, turning and leaving and slamming the door behind him. There was the sound of a plate smashing against the ground and a groan.

Catra sat stock-still for a moment. "Does he do that often?"

Adora covered her face and fell back onto the pillows with an exhausted sigh. "No. Two or three times. He's excitable." She sat up, pushed her hair back, and slid out of the broad circular bed. "I guess we should head down there and see what the fuss is about. Sounds like breakfast is over."

Catra turned slightly. "So pancakes… is a food."

"You are going to be pleasantly surprised," Adora returned with a grin. "Oh, and I should get your clothes from your room. Hold on," she added, hurriedly pulling on a boot.

In a moment, the door shut and Catra was briefly alone again. Everything had started happening so quickly. Some part of her wanted to go back to the night before and stay there forever.

After a quick shower, they dressed and headed down to the Banquet Hall together, looking around for any familiar faces. They passed guards, some still half-asleep from the party, and janitorial staff, most still cleaning up from the party. As they walked, Adora sidled up alongside Catra, mischief written clearly on her face. "Wanna hold hands?"

Catra scowled. "Adora."

"What?" She reached out a little, wiggling her fingers. "Would you be embarrassed?"

"If I have to go soft, I want to do it at my pace."

"I'm going to have you holding my hand by the end of the week. It's on the itinerary." She shot her a smug smirk as they found the stairs down to the Banquet Hall. Near the head of the table, across from two set places, were Glimmer, the sparkly one, and Bow, who must be some sort of boy Princess. This was unclear. They leaned forwards on the table almost in sync and stared, dopey smiles plastered across their faces. Otherwise, the room was empty, which was somewhat disquieting.

She glanced over at Adora as they took their seats, and saw with a measure of relief that she was flushed as well. She stared back at the two, narrowing her eyes. “And what does the Nerd Patrol want?”

The two looked at one another. “Nothing,” Glimmer said.

As a small team of servers arrived from a nearby door with two stacks of backup pancakes, Adora put a hand on her forehead. “You haven’t been spreading rumors, have you?”

“Ohh!” Glimmer cried, clenching her little fists and teleporting behind them. Catra remembered _that_ well. “Everyone was trying to decide what was up with you two all day yesterday! Just tell us! Just confirm it!”

“I didn’t say anything! Also, it was an accident and I promise to never do it again,” Bow interjected, chuckling nervously.

“The dancing and the touching, and now -” she dropped her voice to a stage whisper “- you’re sleeping in the same _bed_ , and I _saw_ you _blushing!_ ”

Adora looked down at the stack of pancakes. “Glimmer, this was, like, really sudden and really, _really_ personal, and I don’t know if we necessarily want to get into details right now…”

Listening to Adora start to prattle made hairs stand up on the back of Catra’s neck. She folded her legs and picked up a fork. “Yeah, we’re dating. Or whatever.” She tore off a chunk of pancake and tried it. “Wow, this is good. It’s fluffy.”

She was interrupted by a sudden shriek and gasped, sending the pancake right to her windpipe. Glimmer grabbed her and Adora by the necks and pulled them into a hug, which did not help. “I can’t believe it! Honestly, I sort of can’t. How long has this been going on?” She gasped. “What happened beneath the Heart of Etheria?”

Catra felt Adora whack her square in the middle of the back, which cleared her throat. “I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of it,” Adora grumbled. “I sort of wanted to take it slow. You know… understated?”

“Hand-holdy,” Catra coughed, wiping her mouth. “I take it you’re embarrassed?” she added with a sly smile.

“Well… not really. Just imagined it differently,” Adora replied, offering her hand. Catra frowned and folded her arms. That would’ve worked usually.

In the meantime, Glimmer had sunk to her knees next to Adora’s armrest. “Of course. Understated. My bad. That explains all the… not telling me and Bow.” She leaped to embrace Adora again, which Catra watched with measured disdain. “I’m just so happy for you! You and Catra,” she added, looking up at Catra with that same maddeningly earnest expression that Adora had perfected.

Catra felt heat rise to her cheeks and turned back to her plate to demolish another pancake. “I assume we’re _done_ with this subject,” she managed with her mouth full, peering at Glimmer.

“Where’s everyone else?” Adora asked quickly. “I guess they all got breakfast in their rooms, huh.”

“They’re around somewhere,” Bow replied. “There’s a meeting at noon so we can talk about this weekend. So at least I _hope_ they’re still around somewhere.”

Adora blinked. “Did I miss a memo? This weekend?”

“I could have sworn I told you yesterday.” Glimmer reappeared in her chair. “That’s when Entrapta says she can have the spaceship up and running.”

“Oh, the next mission! I completely forgot. But that’s only four or five days away.”

“Five,” Bow clarified.

Catra put down her dish, licked clean. “What’s going on? I feel like this is going to somehow involve me.”

They turned to her all at once, as though shocked she didn’t recall. “Our next mission,” Adora said. “You know, bring magic back to all the planets.”

“Right, we talked about this yesterday… this weekend, huh?" Catra felt herself blanch. That was soon - far too soon. For a moment, it seemed as though she would have the opportunity to fall into a rhythm with Adora, something that she hadn’t experienced in what felt like decades. But there was no talking Adora out of whatever she committed herself to… unfortunately. Catra sighed. “I guess I’m a member of the Nerd Patrol too now.”

Bow stood to strike a pose, and Catra preemptively rolled her eyes. “We prefer to be called the Best Friend Squad," he announced.

“... Cool,” Catra jibed. Then, she allowed herself a small smile. Hopefully this chipper, do-gooder nonsense wasn’t contagious.


	2. PROLOGUE II: The Round Table

It had been a doubly long day for Glimmer. The party was impromptu; after all, the mood would be ruined if they decided to take a day or two to _prepare_. Because of that, and because of the sheer scale of the event, Glimmer had her hands full the whole time. Altogether, Bow estimated there were four thousand guests, all from the immediate area around Horde Prime's touchdown. It would be rude not to invite them. And yet, somehow, they were able to pull it off. She had a guard take notes on Entrapta's science stuff, she had the cooks empty the stores, she had Scorpia officially reinstated as a princess, and she somehow even managed to keep music playing the whole time. The victory was almost as difficult as the battle. Just lower stakes.

When it was all said and done, the universe felt it fit to grant her four and a half hours of sleep. She woke just before dawn, still somehow exhilarated, and got right to work with the kitchen staff to make something special for everyone. Then, as Bow went door-to-door delivering breakfast, Glimmer sat down in the Banquet Hall and immediately fell asleep.

She snapped awake to "Glimmer!" as Bow rushed into the Hall, his face bright red, his platter covered in broken glass and ruined pancakes. "Don't tell anyone."

The news gave her another burst of energy. Sure, it was sort of bizarre that Adora would get together with the girl who tried to kill all of them at least twice each. But that would explain the day before, from the moment they escaped the Heart of Etheria to the hours and hours they spent dancing and whispering and ignoring everyone else. And if it was true, Adora was in love, and how could that be anything but wonderful?

After their makeup Continue-the-Party Pancakes, Adora and Catra took their leave from the Banquet Hall, apparently to prepare for the meeting later (which Glimmer had _completely_ forgotten about until Bow brought it up). As they left, Glimmer felt a knot in her stomach. With an unsure glance between them and Bow, she screwed up her face and teleported over. "Catra," she called.

They turned. Adora shook her head a little, flustered. "Oh, uh, I'll - I'll go on ahead," she suggested, and, with a brief confused glance at Catra, hurried off up the stairs.

Catra scanned Glimmer for a moment, then gave a small smile, leaning on the banister. "What's up, Sparkles?"

She paused, realizing she hadn't taken the time to figure out what she was going to say. "I, uh… I shouldn't have pried like that. I'm sorry. I was just, you know, excited."

For a moment, Catra said nothing, then sighed a little. "It's fine," she replied brusquely. "It's a - it's sort of up in the air right now. We haven't even really talked about it ourselves." She paused. "And I, uh, didn't mean to snap."

"No, that's okay, it's early," Glimmer replied quickly.

Catra laughed and offered a hand. "Well, that was a successful transaction, Princess." As Glimmer was about to take it, Catra pulled away and turned to leave. "Too slow. Oh, and make sure your boyfriend doesn't barge into bedrooms anymore."

"He's not -" Glimmer groaned. She didn't have the energy to argue. "He won't."

As Glimmer turned to trudge back to Bow and head to the Meeting Hall, she heard from behind her: "And if… uh, if I snap again… just tell me. I'm working on it."

She blinked and whipped around, not entirely sure whether she heard correctly. But Catra was already gone. In some way, she understood where Adora was coming from. There was something special in Catra, but it was buried deep. Adora could see it more clearly than Glimmer could, perhaps, and maybe eventually she'd be able to find it and dig it out. But for now, Catra still had far too much fun pushing buttons.

She paused at the bottom of the stairs, peeking around the corner at Bow, who was rolling a smoke arrow between his fingers. What Catra said echoed in the back of her mind, and that knot in her stomach returned. She remembered the way Adora looked at Catra when she offered her hand, and that image wouldn't leave her. Something about that look made her restless in a way she couldn’t quite put to words. But that was a gate she didn't have the time or energy to open right now. She hummed a little to steady herself - a trick Perfuma taught her - and headed back into the Hall.

"Ready to go?" she asked with a smile, and offered a hand to Bow.

* * *

The Meeting Hall (promptly renamed from the War Room the day before) was not empty when she and Bow arrived. Micah was there - for now just Micah, officially - sitting at the round table in front of a pile of old-looking leatherbound tomes. His long hair was tied back and his beard was trimmed into a clean chevron; the grey streaks in his dark hair were the only difference between him now and the father Glimmer remembered. As soon as she and Bow arrived, he stood right away, almost knocking his chair over, and opened his arms. "My baby girl."

"Dad." She bounced over to embrace him. So much of her free time the night before was spent talking to him over the noise of the party, and it still felt as though they'd just met. "You're going to stay for the meeting?"

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it," he replied, keeping a hand on her shoulder as he stepped back. "And then afterwards I'm thinking we could… um…" He scratched his head. "I figured it would be easier to come up with activities on the spot."

Glimmer giggled. “We don’t have to plan anything. Maybe we just, you know, sit on the grass and… hang out. Have a picnic, maybe.”

“Are you sure?” Micah faltered. “It’s been a long time since I was sociable and I wasn’t ever very good at it to begin with.”

“Well,” Glimmer replied, “just talking would be nice today.” She pulled up a chair. “You can tell me all your stories and I’ll tell you all my stories, and we’ll see who has the best stories.”

Micah sat back down and leaned on the table. “You’re on,” he said, and pointed, making Glimmer snort with laughter. Then, his grin fell away. “Before that, though, we have a couple things to talk about.”

Bow, in the meantime, had tiptoed to the table and pulled up his own chair to not interrupt. He grinned awkwardly as Glimmer turned to glance at him. “Sorry, should I get out of your hair?”

“No, no, it’s nothing secret. I just wanted to make sure I covered it before the meeting,” Micah replied, picking up one of the books in front of him. Dust fell from the binding as he did, and pieces of leather that had grown old flaked off the cover. “First, Glimmer,” he said, turning again to face her. “If you’re going - and I know you are - you know you’re not going to be able to tap into the Moonstone so far away.”

“Oh, I know,” Glimmer said. “I was in space until a little while ago, remember?”

Micah blinked and stopped himself from explaining further. “Right. Well, if you’re going to stay safe out there, I’ve never been one for weapons or hand-to-hand combat, but I am a Sorcerer. The tool I can offer you is magic.” He put the book down and opened it, revealing a yellowing page detailing a magic circle, small spidery text defining each element of its complex geometry. “We only have a few days, so I’ll have to start with the basics, and then you can practice during your travels.” He sighed. “I wish I could do more, but Sorcery takes years of training.”

“About that, too,” Glimmer started with a half-chuckle, “I have some experience there already.”

“What?” Micah coughed. “I mean, of course. I have - I have a lot to catch up on. My sister will have taught you the fundamentals.”

Glimmer started to correct him, but thought better of it. “Sure.”

“In either case, there’s a lot to learn.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “I’m excited. Let me know whenever you’re ready to start,” he added, and pushed the books towards her. “As for the second thing, since you’re going away, Bright Moon is sort of going to need a leader. Now, this one’s complicated. Technically, since you’ve done the Ritual Quest, you’re the Queen now, permanently.” A flash of sorrow crossed his face. “But, since I never died, I’m still the King. As far as I know, this exact situation hasn’t ever happened before. So we’re going to need to write a law about it or something, to make sure everyone’s on the same page.”

“Write a law?” Glimmer frowned. “That sounds… super boring.”

“Tell me about it. I’m sure I can find someone to do it who’s better at it than either of us, but we still have to be there and sign something.”

“You two really are scarily similar sometimes,” Bow said, leaning his head on his hand. “It’s like I know you already because I know Glimmer so well. Uh - Your Majesty.”

Micah raised an eyebrow. “Stop that. To you, I’m ‘Micah’ or ‘Glimmer’s dad’.” He turned to Glimmer and winked. Glimmer snorted and erupted into giggles, and Micah laughed along. “Good to know I’m still funny.”

Glimmer wiped her eyes, still coming down from a laugh. “That’s not it,” she said, and stood again for another hug. Whenever they were even in the same room together, Glimmer found it hard to keep from beaming.

“Can I, too?” Bow asked, suddenly behind them both. “It’s so hard to be a passive observer here.”

“Ooh, group hug!”

Glimmer’s eyes snapped open as she, her father, and Bow were wrapped unexpectedly into a tight embrace. “Scorpia!” she cried, popping out of the hug. “How are you so quiet?!”

“Stealth Basics, Advanced Stealth.” Scorpia stared vacantly for a moment. “Do you all not have that here?” She looked around at the empty room. “Am I early? Is this not what the meeting is? Oh, gosh, I haven’t gotten used to the schedule around here. Sorry about that.”

“You’re only a little early.” Glimmer hesitated for a moment and then took her chair as Queen. She was almost used to it before her father returned. Now, with him here, the experience was suddenly new again and arrived with a wave of melancholy. “Everyone else should be here any moment.”

“In that case,” Scorpia began, and saluted. “Reporting for duty, s- uh, Queen. And King. Miss Queen and Mister King.” She looked down, still saluting. “I’m new to _this_ , too.”

Glimmer brightened a little. “We’ll talk about it later. Just take a seat.”

“Any of them?” she asked, looking around, and sat cautiously across from Bow. “So… I heard a rumor that this had something to do with… going to space?” She clacked her claws together. “I would very much like to go to space if that is what is happening.”

“Scorpia,” Bow said, his voice steady and serious: “We are absolutely going to space.”

Scorpia gasped and turned to Glimmer. “Can I? Please?”

“We’ll get to it when the meeting starts,” Glimmer said, quirking an eyebrow at Bow.

“Ah, good, we’re not late.” Perfuma was next, dragging along an obviously exhausted Mermista. Sea Hawk, who was not invited, hurried along behind them. After them, one by one, everyone else filed in - Frosta with Netossa and Spinnerella, Castaspella, and, finally, Adora and Catra. Catra’s pet (or whatever their relationship was), Melog, slunk in behind them, phasing in and out of visibility. As they chatted among themselves, Glimmer stood and activated the holo-table, showing a three-dimensional diagram of the galaxy.

Bow’s tracker pad beeped. “Oop. That means it’s noon. Go, start the meeting,” he whispered loudly to Glimmer, gesturing.

Glimmer looked around. One was missing - Entrapta. Well, she did tend to get caught up in things. Not that she needed to attend either way, since this was only possible due to her somewhat obsessive planning. “Alright,” she began, smoothing out her dress. “As you know, the planet has sort of… moved back into the actual universe. As you also know, the Horde and the First Ones spent a pretty long time messing with other planets before they got here. It’s likely both of them have destroyed or suppressed the magic of dozens, maybe hundreds of other planets. And we -” she said, gesturing to the table “- we were able to free Etherian magic. The Horde and the First Ones are gone. All that’s left to do is reconstruction.”

She noticed with a small smile that the table stayed quiet as she paused for effect. “We’re calling this mission Codename Resurrection.”

Frosta raised her hand.

“You don’t need to raise your hand,” Glimmer said.

“Where’s Entrapta?” Frosta asked.

Glimmer was stunned for a second. “I - I don’t know. She doesn’t need to be here. Anyway, that’s not - listen, the reason we’re here is because I need to know who’s going.”

“Oh. Not me!” Frosta said cheerily, putting her hand down. “I’ve got work to do.”

“Alright,” she muttered, nodding to Bow, who took the note on his tracker pad. “Not Frosta. How about we go around the table!”

“I would like to go,” Scorpia said, raising a claw.

“You don’t need to raise your hand. Pincer. I was going to go in the other direction, but… alright, mark Scorpia down.” She paused. “Wait, don’t _you_ , in particular, have work to do?”

“Yeah, the Fright Zone has completely changed,” Adora said. “You saw it, right? With a little help, you can get your kingdom back together.”

Scorpia looked down. “Right, right, I could do that. But everyone who used to live there, well, they’d been Horde for decades by the time we took the Horde apart. Seems that most of them have just sort of… moved somewhere else.” She laughed suddenly. “And, you know, leadership, not my best quality. I think where I excel is probably… second-in-commandership. Maybe third.”

Perfuma leaned around the hologram to see Scorpia. “Scorpia, I’m sure a lot of people would want to follow you. Are you sure you don’t want to at least… give it a try?”

For a moment, Scorpia paused. “Maybe later,” she said finally, the most concisely she’d spoken in a long time.

“I mean, we’re glad to have you on board,” Glimmer rejoined with a smile. “Mark down Scorpia for me, Bow. Oh, and you know you can’t use your magic outside of Etheria, right?”

“What?!” Netossa shouted from across the table. “Take me off the list, then.”

“You weren’t on the list yet! We’re going around the table!” Glimmer cried.

Micah stood. “But, yes, we should make this clear. Princesses gain their powers directly from Etheria itself. The Elemental Princesses, you are connected to your Runestones, and if you move too far from them, your powers fade and vanish. Non-Elemental Princesses, your powers are tied to the soul of the planet. Similarly, if you move away from the planet, your powers will fade.” He turned to Glimmer. “The exception here is, of course, She-Ra. The going theory is that she has a fragment of Etheria inside her at all times.”

Adora nodded. “She-Ra is still there when I’m not on Etheria. We know that from experience now. Also, she can breathe in space, which might be helpful.”

“Lucky,” Netossa huffed.

“You don’t need magic to have a good time!” Sea Hawk insisted, standing up himself. “For many a year I was blessed with the open sea, a fine crew, and nothing else! And look at me now!”

“Look at you now,” Netossa retorted.

“Uh, speaking of, I’m going,” Adora added. “Catra, too.”

Catra leaned forwards in her seat. “Adora does _not_ speak for me.” She folded her arms and sat back. “But, yeah, I’m going.”

“Auntie?” Glimmer asked, moving past Catra to Castaspella.

“Unfortunately...” she began, then cut herself off. She stood and rushed over to Glimmer, grabbing her by the face. “Oh, I’ll miss you so much! You’ve not even been back a day and you’re already leaving again!”

“Yes, Auntie, I know,” Glimmer said, struggling to pull away. “Let me be the Queen for a minute.”

Castaspella stepped back, folding her hands. “How long will you all be gone?”

Glimmer paused. “Oh, yeah. So,” she said, turning back to the table, “we don’t know how long we’ll be gone. Uh, Entrapta was supposed to have come up with a couple estimates, but, you know, she’s somewhere.”

“Glimmer,” Bow said lowly. “You know, Entrapta’s been sort of… out of it since last night. Something to do with Hordak, I think. She really likes him.”

As though someone had snapped their fingers and pushed Glimmer into a dream, the sound in the room dimmed as Bow spoke. For a long moment, she froze in place, hearing Bow say “Glimmer? You alright?” somewhere at the edge of her perception.

“I thought I made it clear that I don’t want to hear that name in my presence,” Glimmer said, her voice even and cold. She hardly heard herself.

Bow put his tracker pad down. “Sorry,” he said.

The room fell into a beat of silence. Then, Glimmer felt a warm hand on her shoulder and nearly pushed it away until her mind caught up to her instinct and she realized it was her father’s. She inhaled deeply and hummed a few notes. “Spinnerella.”

“Oh,” Spinnerella said, surprised. “Well, we were going to, but - outside of our magic, we don’t really have much to offer.” She took Netossa’s hand. “Our apologies.”

Glimmer rubbed her forehead, trying to work away a dull pain that had begun to pulse there. “Guards,” she called outside of the Meeting Room. “Will you two go check on - on the prisoner? If Entrapta’s found her way in there, just bring her here.”

The guards bowed and headed back out into the hallway and Glimmer sat back down. “Mark Spinnerella and Netossa as not going, Bow. Perfuma?”

Perfuma looked down at her lap. “I was going to go, too, but I thought it would only be a few weeks, maybe a month. If you don’t know when you’ll be back…”

“That’s the thing,” Bow said, leaning over the table. “Space is _huge!_ Even when we’re going at top speed, there are some planets on this graph that are months and months away, and that’s just travel.” He looked over. “If you don’t want to leave your kingdom alone for so long, that’s perfectly understandable.”

Glimmer nodded to Bow and Perfuma and moved on. “Merm-”

“I’m awake,” Mermista interrupted, sitting upright. “What are we meeting about?”

Glimmer flexed her hands a little bit in frustration. “Would you like to go to space with us?”

“You’re asking if we’d like to share in a grand spacefaring adventure, conquering foes and delivering happiness to the universe?” Sea Hawk asked, gesturing grandly with his hands. “Hmm, take a guess, my dear Glimmer. How do you think we might reply?”

Mermista rubbed her eyes a little. “Actually,” she said, “Salineas needs some time to heal. We have to rebuild after everything, fix the gate and stuff.” She turned to Sea Hawk. “If you want to go, like… I’m not going to stop you.”

Glimmer felt that restlessness again as Sea Hawk took Mermista’s hand, much to her obvious chagrin. Sea Hawk sighed. “Mark me down as absent, Bow,” he said, and turned back to Mermista. “I would love to experience the great seas of space, but I’m not going to do it without you.”

Catra stuck out her tongue. “Blech.”

“Sea Hawk,” Mermista murmured, lapsing into a yawn. “So much, all at once, in the morning. Tone it a little bit down for me.”

“It’s after noon,” Sea Hawk replied.

“Alright, that’s settled. Less than I hoped for,” Glimmer muttered, “but that’s alright. And, of course, know that if you need any help at any point, whether it’s to rebuild or manage your kingdoms, you can rely on King Micah for -”

“Apologies for the interruption, Your Highness,” one of the guards said at the door. Everyone turned to see the two guards holding Entrapta by the shoulders. Her visor was down, obscuring her face, and she seemed somewhat limp. “She was indeed in the spare - the prison.”

Glimmer sighed. “Thank you,” she said, and the guards returned to their posts, leaving Entrapta standing in the doorway alone, motionless. “Entrapta,” she offered, “come sit. Wanna tell everyone about the calculations you did?”

Entrapta continued to stand for a moment, everyone watching, aware of the oppressive atmosphere in the room. Then, without raising her visor, she headed over to the end of the holo-table and opened the control panel. The graphic changed, showing three glowing orbs: one bright pink, and then, in the distance from that, one bright blue and one bright orange. Lines emerged from the pink orb to each of the others, followed by some short phrases: between the pink and blue, 2 MONTHS, and between the pink and orange, 3 MONTHS.

After watching for a few seconds, Glimmer teleported to the other side of the table and put a hand on Entrapta’s shoulder. “You alright? You want to talk to us?”

Entrapta didn’t turn to face her. “Um…” she began. “The planet to the left is one option… and the one to the right is another. I identified both as potentially magical. There’s likely other planets near the orange one, but not near the blue one, which is entirely… isolated.”

Another beat of silence. Glimmer glanced around the room. Most everyone had averted their eyes. They were probably on Entrapta’s side. After all, these last few weeks had been full of kindness and forgiveness, hadn’t they? What’s one more forgiveness?

Entrapta finally turned and lifted her visor. Her eyes were wet with tears. “Why do you have to exile him? Can’t you keep him here? In your spare room?”

Glimmer took Entrapta by the arm. “Meeting adjourned,” she said, and teleported her and Entrapta into her room.

Entrapta jumped as it happened, but quickly regained her bearings. “He won’t know what it’s like out there. He’s never been away from Etheria before - he’ll be so lost. When you get to know him, he’s -”

“Entrapta,” Glimmer hissed. “He killed my mother.” *****

After a moment, Entrapta put her visor back down with her hair. “That’s not what he said.”

“That’s because he’s a liar. He’s a treacherous leech.” Glimmer stepped closer, staring directly into the dull, lifeless red circles of the visor. “He’ll do anything he can to save himself because he is hollow and worthless.”

“He’s my friend.”

Glimmer felt the cool rage sweep over her again. “Be glad exile is all I’ve sentenced him with.” She walked to the door and opened it, gesturing for Entrapta to leave. “After all. We’re the good guys.”

Entrapta put her hands together, looking between Glimmer and the door through her expressionless visor, and finally took her leave, heading dolefully off into the castle.

Glimmer didn’t watch her go. She paced over to her window and folded her arms. That cool feeling slowly began to disperse, as though she was coming down from casting a spell. Then, she heard footsteps at her door. "Entrapta -”

“It’s your dad.” Micah stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. “After all these years, you still go right to your room.”

Glimmer stared for a moment before she was overcome with tears. Already sobbing, she teleported into his arms. The coolness had completely gone away, replaced only by a pulsing, hot pain spreading through her head and her heart. “It’s been so long now…” Glimmer managed. “Why does it still hurt so much?”

Her father held her tighter. “You’ll learn to manage it and keep it at the back of your mind,” he nearly whispered. “You’ll learn to ignore it for days or weeks at a time. But it’s never going to go away.”

For a few minutes, they stood in that still embrace, until Glimmer had exhausted herself. She pulled away slowly. “... Dad,” she murmured. “Did I do the right thing?”

Micah put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to find her father’s eyes dark, his mouth set in a thin, taut line, his brow furrowed in a scowl she’d never seen before. “Yes,” he replied simply, and took her into another short hug.

Glimmer sighed as the sadness faded - not faded, dulled. “I think I’d like to have that picnic now.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * _**Unclear Canon.**_ The scene from the show that this takes from is blocked in an unclear way. For the purposes of this story, no one except Adora, Catra, and Hordak himself knows who actually pulled the switch to cause the Portal event and, ultimately, Queen Angella’s sacrifice.


	3. PROLOGUE III: Set A Course

Something was tickling Adora's nose, so she reached up to rub it away.

Suddenly, she sat bolt upright in bed. Her face was suddenly wet and… sweet and sticky. And as she adjusted to being awake, she heard Catra cackling. The room was bright with sunlight; Catra was sitting on her knees in front of her, laughing. She fell to her back. "It's amazing because I don't have to do anything! You do it all to yourself!"

Adora looked down at her hand. "Whipped cream."

"Bow told me to try it. He's a genius. He's officially my prank second-in-command."

Adora chuckled, then looked out the window. The sun was peeking out over the Whispering Woods in the distance. "Wait, what time is it?"

Catra sat back up and scooted closer. "I only tried this out because you were sleeping in. I figured it would make a pretty good alarm." She smirked and leapt forwards, licking the whipped cream from Adora's face.

Adora writhed and pushed her away. "We talked about the tongue! It's rough!"

"Come on. It's just your face." Catra folded her legs. "And it's not rough, it's barbed. There are spikes on it."

"That's the problem," Adora said, reaching out for the tissue box on the bedside table.

"Oh, you thought I'd make it easy for you?" Catra grinned, showing her fangs, and knocked the box off the table with her tail, leaping back on Adora.

"Catra - will you -" Adora strained, trying to push her face away. Catra somehow dodged past her hands and licked her again, catching her eyebrow. "Ow!"

"See? All clean," Catra said, flicking a stray dot of whipped cream off Adora's nose. "Aw, you're blushing."

Adora tried to frown, but didn't have the will to fake it. She smiled, then leaned down to grab the tissue box and wipe off her hand. The week had vanished. It seemed like the party was yesterday, and at the same time, it felt like years ago. But, if she was counting right - and she was - today was the day they'd be leaving, heading out into the unknown for months… maybe years.

Catra laid back down onto Adora and drew her into a kiss. Usually, she was energetic about it, almost aggressive. This felt thoughtful. When she pulled away, she fell to lay next to Adora, drawing a lazy finger down her arm. "You know," she began quietly, "that first night. When I woke up, I thought… maybe we'd be here forever." She paused. "I mean, obviously we can't do that. But I keep thinking about it."

Adora looked down at her, reaching around her back and pulling her closer. "What do you mean?"

"Like… I don't know how else to describe it. Haven't you ever felt like you wanted something to stay the way it is forever?"

What Catra was saying dawned on her gradually, even if she couldn't find the words for it, either; she simply replied, "Yeah." She had felt it once before, the first time they'd kissed. She remembered the pain in her body dissipating, as though some sort of fog had lifted, and something deep in her chest clicked, and it suddenly washed over her - relief, realization, some sort of transcendental comfort. One part of her wanted time to freeze in that moment.

"So I have a question, then," Catra murmured. "Why do you have to save the universe?" She looked up, meeting Adora's stare. "Why can't we just…"

"It's not about saving the universe," Adora returned. "It's - you remember what happened when Etheria got its magic back? Imagine that, but on a planet with no magic at all. How amazing that would be… how much it could help the people there."

Catra sighed, putting her head down on Adora's chest. "That's what playing the hero is. You don't know those people. You don't owe them anything."

"I…" Adora paused. Not to consider this new point, but out of surprise that it so fundamentally disagreed with her. "I feel like I do." She leaned over Catra. "It's _you_ I don't owe anything."

"That's fair," she murmured in reply, and leaned up for another kiss. It lasted; Adora’s heartbeat slowed, her muscles relaxed, Catra separated and returned. “Hey,” she said, brushing a hand through her hair. “I like your hair down.”

Adora pressed her forehead against Catra’s. “I love you.”

Catra settled back down on Adora’s chest. “I know,” she replied, starting to purr.

“... By the way, how do you do that?”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.”

“Just wondering.”

“There’s a flap of skin in my throat -”

“Never mind.”

* * *

Later that morning, their bags were packed. They were the first to finish, along with Scorpia, and started toting them out to the ship, which was still parked in the backyard. Scorpia had gotten there first and waved as soon as she saw them. “Hey, let me help carry your stuff!” she called from across the yard.

“No, we’re -” Adora began, but Scorpia was already on her way, moving at a brisk jog. She shook her head a little. “We can’t refuse, can we?”

Scorpia laughed as she approached. “Of course not. Here,” she said, and picked all four up with one arm. “You guys excited? You know, the mysteries of space, and - and more aliens, maybe ones that won’t try to blow up the planet.”

“Right, I forgot,” Catra said, walking up confidently alongside Scorpia. “You’ve never been to space. That means we’re the experienced ones here. We’ll be your guides.”

“R-really?” Scorpia stammered. She turned back to Adora. “Oh, I’m so relieved. Could you tell I was nervous?”

Catra turned to lean against the ship as they reached it. “You were shivering.”

Scorpia gasped. “I had no idea.”

“She’s just messing with you,” Adora said, pressing a few buttons on the back of the ship to open it. With a hiss and a rumble, the airstair descended and hit the ground with a solid _thunk_. Then, she looked around, realizing something was missing. “Where’s your bags?”

Scorpia put their luggage carefully on the airstair and stepped back. “Me?” she asked, turning. “Oh, you know. I travel light.”

Catra turned to her, a hand on her hip. “Did you leave all your stuff in the Fright Zone?”

“Not all of it. Just most of it.” Scorpia clacked her claws together. “I have a backpack. I just left it in the castle.”

“Then why’d you come out here?” Adora asked.

“To help everyone with their bags.”

Adora laughed and patted Scorpia on the least sharp part of her arm. “I have a feeling we’re going to need you on this mission more than anyone thought.” Scorpia beamed. “Oh, speaking of packing,” Adora added, “I had an idea yesterday.” She pulled at her clothes. “Why are we still wearing Horde uniforms? The Horde doesn’t exist anymore.”

Catra and Scorpia looked at one another.

“They have other clothes here,” Adora continued. “We should try other clothes.”

* * *

As it turns out, this was something that Glimmer had been anticipating for months. When they met up with her during her training out on the veranda, she practically glowed and immediately teleported them to an extensive wardrobe. Vests, skirts, blouses, trousers, and all sorts of capey-scarfy accoutrements were stored neatly in a massive rotating closet behind all of Glimmer’s packed bags. Of course, most of it was geared towards Adora, who was roughly the same size as Catra, but Scorpia was about a foot too big for all of it.

“Not to put anyone on the spot,” Glimmer said, spinning the closet and passing dozens of tops, “but I already know what’s going to look perfect on Adora. Catra, uh…” She picked out four, six, eleven different radically different pieces of clothing. “These! Play around with these and see what you like best.”

Catra caught the pile of clothes. “If there aren’t tights here, I can’t wear any of it. I need my feet on the ground. They’re sensitive.”

“What?” Glimmer said, turning slowly to Catra, her eyes wide.

Catra flushed. “My feet are sensitive. It’s important. I sense people walking and stuff.” She narrowed her eyes as Glimmer appeared to swell with amusement. “If you call me cute…”

“I’d never,” Glimmer replied, covering her mouth. She cleared her throat to badly hide a laugh. “And for Scorpia… well, for you I’m going to pop over to the clothier. I know he’s got plenty of stuff lying around we can try out. Bye have fun!” With this, she disappeared in a cloud of glitter.

“These aren’t dark colors,” Catra said, pulling a bright pink blouse from her pile.

Adora scoffed. “Just go try them on.”

“Where?!”

“Our room!” she said, and pointed at the door.

Catra flipped her head back and groaned, but stalked outside anyway. The door shut quietly behind her, and Adora shook her head and sat along the window next to Scorpia.

For a moment, the room was quiet. Scorpia leaned back a little and looked out the window. “You know, you’ve really done something special with Catra. Smoothed out a lot of wrinkles. Not literal wrinkles, but… you know, people wrinkles.”

Adora looked over. For whatever reason, until now, she hadn’t considered how other people were seeing the two of them. “Really?”

“Absolutely!” Scorpia cheerfully replied. “Are you kidding? A few months ago she was a total wreck. Not fun to be around.” She rubbed her chin, looking off into the crisp, clear sky. “Man, I used to have _such_ a crush on Catra.”

Adora jumped like she’d heard a loud noise. “What? -”

Scorpia noticed and turned. “Oh! Not anymore,” she added quickly. “That faded real fast towards the end of the Horde. And part of it, I guess, is when I came here and suddenly there were so many more people to talk to, so many more friends to make.” She paused. “It used to be, you know… Catra! The prodigy! Number one Force Captain in history. And then, all of a sudden, when I came here, I realized that that’s not all there is to a person.”

Adora opened her mouth to reply, but held back for a moment, thinking. “So…” she began, hesitantly, “this doesn’t weird you out? The thing going on between me and Catra?”

She laughed and patted Adora on the back, nearly sending her sprawling out on the floor. “What a question. Catra’s still a good friend, and, honestly, a lot of that is ‘cause of you.” She turned to look back out the window, a smile crossing her face. “I’m glad she’s happy. And, honestly, I think I’d be better finding someone else anyway.”

There wasn’t anything but earnest goodwill in her voice. Nothing vengeful or wistful. “You know, if I had to put up with that side of Catra for so long,” Adora said, her voice low, “I’d be completely done with it after a week. You’re… strong.”

“I’m the muscle.” Scorpia turned. “Oh, you mean the other kind of strong. Well, thank you.”

“And it’s decided,” Adora said, standing and putting her hands on her hips. “Side mission. We’re going to get you an alien girlfriend.” She paused. “Or boyfriend?”

Scorpia shrugged.* “I - I mean, you don’t _have_ to -”

The door opened, thudding against the wall. Catra stepped into the room and tossed the rest of the pile she took with her onto a nearby chair. A loose-fitting mauve blouse, tied at the forearms, was complemented well by a fitted pair of black slacks. “I’m keeping the gloves,” Catra said, tightening one as though to show it off. “Otherwise… I like it. I kind of like it a lot.”

“Wow,” Adora breathed. It was the first time in a long time she’d seen Catra in anything other than an issued Horde uniform. “You look like a…”

“A space pirate,” Scorpia interjected.

“That was actually what I was going to say.”

Catra adjusted the collar. “Tell me what you _really_ think,” she purred, approaching Adora and flicking her tail.

Adora chuckled nervously, glancing over at Scorpia. “Catra, I’m so so bad at flirting. You can’t do this to me in public,” she whispered.

“I’m going to have to teach you, I guess,” Catra hummed, putting an arm around Adora’s shoulders. She looked up and around. “Is Glimmer not back yet?”

Scorpia stood, stretching. “I didn’t think this was going to take a lot of time, honestly,” she said. “I’m not particularly high-maintenance. We’re not going to miss takeoff, are we?”

“I’m pretty sure they’ll delay as long as we’re not there. But, no, I have the schedule clear in my head, don’t worry,” Adora replied.

“Takeoff,” Catra repeated. “That’s right. Adora, come on.”

“What? We have hours!”

“No, no.” Catra pulled her by the hand. “Entrapta. Bow said she’s still in a bad mood. And I’ve been thinking recently… maybe we can help that.”

“Bonding time!” Scorpia said, lifting her claws. “Can I come?”

Adora and Catra looked at one another, and Adora realized suddenly what exactly Catra meant. Entrapta was worried about Hordak being punished for a crime he didn’t commit. In fact, he would be punished for a crime that Catra _did_ commit. Catra’s eyes softened a little, and Adora frowned. Whatever this sudden plan was, it was going to be dangerous, and it was going to be secret. “Sorry, Scorpia,” she said. “It’s not really bonding. We should probably… keep it to ourselves for now.”

“Oh. Got it,” Scorpia replied, deflating a little. “I’ll just stay here, then. Glimmer should be back soon.”

“Sorry again! Genuinely not our intention!” she managed before Catra yanked her into the hallway.

Scorpia sat back down and rubbed her chin. “Mm,” she murmured to herself. “Probably nothing. Or at least none of my business.”

* * *

The spare room was heavily guarded - four guards instead of two. For the sixth or seventh time since she’d first arrived at Bright Moon, Adora thought to herself: _They really should build a prison._ Catra pulled her along until they arrived in front of the door, where two of the guards crossed their staves in front of them. “No access without permission from the Queen.”

Catra growled, balling her hands into fists for a second, then inhaled. “Adora saved the world, okay? Can you trust for a second that we know what we’re doing?”

The guards looked at each other. “That’s actually a pretty fair point, Roxy,” one said to the other.

“Just make it quick,” the other replied, looking down the hallway for any prying eyes.

The spare room beyond was sparsely-lit and cold - chilly, in fact. Adora shivered as Catra pulled her inside. In the dim light of the half-powered glowstones, Adora saw a magic circle glowing weakly on the ground - and another one inside of that one, and another one inside of that one. And at the very center, hooked up to a standing machine that looked to be nothing more than some sort of mechanical coffin, was Hordak, lying on the floor and breathing heavily.

“Hordak!” Catra shouted as the door closed.

Hordak, struggling, raised a clawed finger to his lips. “Shhh. She’s asleep,” he muttered hoarsely. Towards the back of the room, in the semidarkness, Adora saw a coil of pinkish hair. “She stayed up all night to speak with me.” He groaned in pain. "Such a… kind girl."

Adora stepped back as Catra paced forwards. “Alright… you,” Catra whispered, her voice still a growl. “I’ve decided. I’m going to get you out of this. It’s going to make Entrapta happy. But I never want to see you here or anywhere around here again. Got it?” Without waiting for a response, she reached forwards, and as soon as her fingers passed over the magic circle, a sheet of violet magic appeared before her and Adora heard a faint but unmistakable sizzle. “Agh!”

As Catra dropped to one knee, cradling her hand, Hordak sighed. “This is not simply a prison,” he groaned. He sounded on the verge of death, his voice nothing more than a croak. “It is not only of the Princess’s design, but also the design of Micah, the Sorcerer.”

“Wait.” Adora stepped forwards again. “King Micah did this?”

“He helped,” Hordak muttered. “I think… that you are here to clear your conscience, Catra. You know perhaps it should be you in this cell rather than me.”

“Nice try,” Catra said, standing again. She whistled, and suddenly Adora saw the form of Melog shift into vision next to Catra. Adora hadn’t even realized she** was there. “Melog, phase me,” she said, and disappeared as well. After a moment, another hiss, and another shout of pain. Catra appeared next to Adora along with Melog, shrunken to the size of a kitten, her mane a bright red.

“The layers are many… and complex.” Hordak managed. “No small feat of magic could pass through them. But allow me to finish my thought.”

Adora knelt next to Catra. “You alright?”

“It’s a bad burn,” Catra winced. “Probably going to need more than a bandage on this.”

“I was going to say… Catra,” Hordak began, “that I should be clearing my conscience with _you_ instead.” He lay still for a moment. “For years, I was only cruel, and nothing but cruel. Not only to you, but to all under my command. You, I took my frustration out upon when the Horde began to crumble. This cell is something I… deserve.”

Catra and Adora exchanged a brief glance. “You’re not Hordak,” Catra growled.

"No, no, this is - this is right,” Adora said, helping Catra to her feet. “What I did to Horde Prime, while the Heart of Etheria was still in me. I didn’t kill him. I… sent his evil away.”

Catra turned. “You what? What kind of sense does that even make?”

“I don’t know!” Adora said, gesticulating. “She-Ra is kind of a hard thing to make sense of sometimes! But that’s what I saw happen. Suddenly, all the darkness - I pushed it out of him, and it… sort of exploded.”

“Even if that’s what happened!” Catra exclaimed. “He still belongs in there! You heard him! He accepts his punishment! And for years and years of his - his _evil_ , he gets what’s coming to him!”***

Adora scoffed, pushing Catra’s accusatory hand down. “He’s a clone! Horde Prime was more like a virus than a personality! I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some good in him even before I did the weird magic thing! Entrapta probably liked him for a reason, right?”

“Because he was part _robot_ by the time she was done with him!” Catra cried. “Entrapta really, really likes robots! Did you not _notice?!_ ”

“Guys?” a small voice came from the back of the room. They turned. Entrapta was standing, her visor up, looking between them. “What are you doing here?”

Adora looked between her and Catra. Something in Catra’s expression was still soft, even pained. “Well,” Adora said, “I think we’re breaking Hordak out.”

Entrapta stared for a moment, then gasped and picked up a large satchel on the ground nearby. “I have so many plans! I have responsive holograms, I have illusory walls, I have…” She trailed off and looked up at the two of them. “Is this because Catra did it and Hordak didn’t.”

Catra bristled. “No! It’s…”

Adora put a hand on her back and let it sit for a moment as Catra inhaled, in, out, slowly.

“... Partly,” Catra admitted quietly.

“I knew it! I knew Hordak wouldn’t lie to me!” Entrapta said, pumping her fists in the air and laughing.

“But listen,” Adora said, grasping Entrapta’s shoulder. “Glimmer can’t know about this. No one can know about this. This is a secret. I know you’re not, uh… great at those, but we need to keep this between us.”

“I _am_ great at keeping secrets,” Entrapta said. “It’s just that most people don’t tell me what’s a secret and what’s not and then all of a sudden half the things they say are secrets and then I tell someone and -”

“This is absolutely a secret,” Adora interrupted, putting a hand on her mouth. Entrapta nodded. “You’ve seen how Glimmer gets about this. And… justifiably,” she added, glancing worriedly at Catra, who was staring at the ground with a certain self-conscious scowl Adora recognized. “If she learns Catra did it… I don’t know what’ll happen.”

“I can keep a secret,” Entrapta said as soon as Adora moved her hand. “It really doesn’t matter to me if Glimmer thinks he did it. Glimmer will be in space, and Hordak will be here. All that matters to me is that Hordak… he didn’t lie to me. And he’s none of the things Glimmer called him. Oh!” she yelped, reaching into her backpack again and retrieving some sort of greenish canister. “His new suit! First Ones… _nanotech_.” She cackled and shook it a little between her pigtails.

“Well, hold on, we still have to get him out of there,” Adora said, turning to Catra. “You think it’ll work?”

“That was Plan C, yeah,” Catra murmured.

“Catra. Adora.” Hordak labored to inhale. “If this goes wrong, and the Sorcerer placed some sort of failsafe in this enchantment… I want to apologize. For everything.”

Catra scowled. "We don't have time for this."

Adora frowned as she looked him over; now he was nothing more than a dying, sad old man, all the malice taken from him. She sighed and closed her eyes. “For the honor of Grayskull!”  
  


* * *

Finally, at the height of the afternoon, everyone was packed, gear was stowed safely on the ship, goodbyes were said one by one, and a sizable group of castle staff and citizens had gathered to watch the spaceship depart from Bright Moon. They lined up, almost accidentally, as Entrapta was inside starting the engine: Bow, Glimmer, Adora, Catra, Scorpia, dressed for action and waving to the cheering crowd.

“I’m glad Entrapta seems better,” Glimmer leaned over to whisper to Adora.

“Ah, pulled a little She-Ra, talked some sense into her. All in a day’s work, you know.” Adora chuckled, hoping it didn’t sound nervous. “Oh, and I love the new outfit. You’ve got an eye,” Adora added, tugging on the jacket. “The bodysuit is a nice touch. I would have missed it.”

King Micah stepped forwards from mingling with the other Princesses in attendance and headed to embrace Glimmer. “I’ll send correspondence when I can, though I don’t know whether it’ll reach you. Be back soon. And never forget - I love you so much.”

Glimmer hugged back, tight, as though to absorb as much of him as she could. The past few days were full, morning to night, with their conversation and their training and their picnics - at least one a day. But it wasn’t enough. She pulled away after a long few seconds, and then lowered her voice. “And remember. As soon as we leave the atmosphere, prepare the prisoner for ejection. I want him out of here as quickly as possible.”

“You don’t have to remind me, Glimmer,” Micah said, laying a comforting, if somewhat tense hand on her shoulder.

At the other end of the line, Scorpia grabbed Adora and Catra in a tough, expectedly sharp embrace. “You two ready for adventure?” she shouted over the cheers of the crowd.

Catra looked over at Adora and felt herself break into a smile. Maybe today she’d give her what she wanted, just as a treat. She slipped her hand around Adora’s and nudged her. “I think I am.”

Adora looked over, squeezing Catra’s hand a little tighter. “As long as we’re all in it together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * _**Enormous Bi Energy.**_ Scorpia overflows with it. I promise this is not erasure.  
> ** _**Original Series Reference.**_ Melog, a character from the original 1985 series, was female. Its gender is never brought up in SPOP.  
> *** _**Rich Irony.**_ Don’t think I didn’t catch this.


	4. CHAPTER I: Maiden Voyage

The engines roared for two long minutes before the ship had completely left the Etherian atmosphere. Over the week, Entrapta had distracted herself with the ship and the vast wealth of First Ones tech onboard - adding restraints, editing the sleeping chambers, playing with the high-speed engine, taking things apart and putting them back together. The few times Scorpia dropped by, Entrapta had been working silently, her visor down, and said nothing. But now, apparently back to normal, Entrapta was the only one cackling over the screams of the rest of the crew as the ship sped out of the sky and into the vacillating blacks and purples and yellows of space.

As soon as the ship reached a comfortable cruising speed, Entrapta furiously unlocked her own restraints and headed to the viewport. The stars beyond sparkled enticingly, and the buttons below lit up in patterns she'd memorized three times over, begging her to take control.

A violet sphere popped up above the dashboard. "Welcome back, Entrapta," a digital voice intoned.

She burst into laughter and leapt forwards to hug the sphere. "Darla!" She hadn't noticed that everyone else had also released themselves from their restraints. Scorpia approached the viewport slowly as Entrapta began running the first docket of diagnostics.

"Gosh," Scorpia breathed, looking up at the swirling stars above. Without noticing, she leaned forwards onto the dashboard. Immediately, it lit up with the first stage of the advanced autotracking procedure and Scorpia leapt back. "Oh, that's my fault! Sorry. I didn't realize the whole thing was buttons."

"Oh, yes," Entrapta replied, quickly shutting down the procedure and pulling up another diagnostic holo-screen. "This is the dashboard, which is Darla's primary control panel. Say hi, Darla!"

"Welcome, passenger," Darla intoned.

"Oh, uh…" Scorpia leaned in and gently poked the side of the hovering violet sphere. "Hey, Darla. How is this happening?"

"Arcanomechanical nanotech!" Entrapta replied. "The crystals that fuel Darla are processed into magical energy through a helical plasma engine, which is diverted through the rest of the ship! Into the thrusters, into the nanotech interface, and into the weapons!"

Scorpia blinked. "Oh."

Entrapta turned, recognizing that maybe she was speaking over her. "Uh… the ship… eats crystals… and makes very small robots."

"Ooh!" Scorpia brightened and tapped the side of the sphere again. "So it's a bunch of tiny robots?"

"Looks good. We're on track for the blue planet, which we have not named yet." she heard from behind her, and whipped around. Bow was standing there, his tracker pad in his hand. He paused as she turned. "Wait, did you say something about weapons?"

"Of course!" Entrapta replied cheerfully, opening the repair-showfloor graphic, which materialized momentarily where Darla's sphere was. "I rigged her with plasma pulse launchers on either side, with turrets! I had to take out two of the sleeping chambers to do it, but I think we still have enough."

Bow stammered a lot and then waved his tracker pad. "How many beds do we have?"

"Sleeping chambers! And, um…" She searched the realtime diagnostics. "Four."

"Four?" Bow turned around to make sure no one else heard.

"Hey, I'll sleep out here," Scorpia offered. "If the sleeping chambers are those little things we saw on the way in, I don't think I'd fit anyway."

"See, Bow, it's fine," Entrapta said, shaking his head a little between her pigtails. "I'll be sleeping out here, too. Someone has to keep an eye on the bridge. And it's me. I'm the one who's going to keep an eye on the bridge."

Bow looked between the two of them. "Well, I mean, if you're sure…" He paused. "Can - can I see the guns again?"

* * *

Towards the back of the ship, Adora was picking apart the rations and gear piece by piece, double-checking her list. Glimmer and Catra were not helping. "Eighteen canisters of condensed carb sluice. Got it. Seventeen boxes of glucose-vitamin substitute."

"Fourteen," Catra said, lounging on a pile of boxes and luggage. Melog, travel-sized, was curled up on her chest, apparently asleep. "Twelve, four, twenty-one."

Adora felt her eye twitch as she counted. "Got it. Twenty-six cartons of dietary nitrates."

"Eleven."

Glimmer grumbled and also sat down on some of the boxes. "Have you noticed that none of this is real food?"

"It has to keep. You'll probably learn to like it," Adora said, picking up one of the nitrate cartons and smelling it. It caught in her throat and made her face bunch up, then she coughed. "Maybe not. That makes me miss ration bars."

Catra purred, leaning on one hand and staring directly at Adora. "... Eight."

"I'm gonna pick you up and stuff you into a sleeping chamber," Adora said, pointing the notepad at her.

"Come get me."

Adora tossed the notepad to Glimmer and charged at Catra, who just barely leapt out of the way. She landed on the top of another stack of boxes nearby and laughed. "You're going to have to try harder than that!" she called. Adora responded by clambering up the stack and grabbing for her, just barely losing her balance as Catra hopped away. The crates toppled to the ground and Catra hopped to the other side of the room, stepping on Adora's belly as she did.

Glimmer jumped to her feet as the crates crashed around her. "None of this is fragile, is it? Guys, we need to eat these things!"

Adora coughed as the wind was knocked out of her but she found herself laughing. "Catra, you can't do this for months!"

"What are you willing to bet on it?" Catra shouted, almost managing to dodge Adora one last time - but Adora just barely got hold of her tail. Of course, she hissed and writhed, but Adora managed to pull her into a headlock.

"Huh. I thought you were supposed to be faster than that," Adora said. "Looks like - ow!" she yelped. Catra bit her on the hand and flipped out of her headlock. "We have also talked about no biting!"

"No laws in space," Catra rejoined, adjusting her hair and falling back to recline on the same boxes and bags as before. She folded her legs and looked up at Adora. "Thirty-two."

Adora stepped over a box and grabbed Catra's forearm. "Alright, get out of here, I have to work," she said, pushing her out of the storage room without much resistance. "Go talk to Entrapta and the rest. They said something about space weapons."

"They did?" Catra flickered an ear. "How do you know? You've been in here with us."

Adora blinked. "I don't know, I must have heard them. Now, quit distracting me."

"Hm." Catra leaned against the doorjamb for a moment before darting in to give her a peck on the cheek. "Seventeen."

Adora felt herself flush as Catra pressed the access button and the door slid shut with a clunk. She turned to Glimmer with a nervous chuckle and then to the rest of the room. Her smile fell. "I probably should not… have done that."

"Probably not!" Glimmer admonished, gesturing grandly at the mess. She turned to Adora and found it difficult to suppress a smile. "So that's what she does to you?"

"She's a, uh…" She trailed off, trying to find the best phrase. "She's a bad influence. But that's how it's always been." She glanced at the closed door and hurried over to pick up one of the boxes they knocked over, sweeping the packets of ancient space food back into it. "You know," she began, putting a hand on the top of the box and turning a little towards Glimmer, "I slept in this morning."

It took a moment for this to register with Glimmer. "You've never done that before," she said finally, looking over wide-eyed.

"Well, not in a long time. Way before we knew each other." Adora picked up another box. "And over the last few days, there were a few times when I just… lay down and didn't do anything." She stood and smoothed down her ponytail, something she realized she hadn't done compulsively since she was a kid. "And, like, that doesn't _sound_ great, but…"

Against Adora's expectations, Glimmer laughed and gave her a quick hug. "You've learned how to relax." She picked up a nearby box and handed it to Adora. "It took you long enough." For a second, they worked quietly, just the two of them in the dim little storage room. Then, Glimmer looked over one of the canisters they were packing, staring at the neat, convoluted shape of Eternian language printed on its front, if only to distract herself from that familiar knot forming in her stomach. "I have a question."

"Uh-oh," Adora teased. "What's up?"

"When…" She trailed off, trying to find the words. "No, it's a weird question."

Adora picked up the last box and set it back in its place. "I kinda figured it was going to be a weird question."

Glimmer sat down with a heavy sigh and hummed a few notes. "How did you and Catra… get together?"

"Oh." Adora took a seat across from Glimmer. "That - um… huh. Why - why do you ask?" she stammered, trying to lean her head on her hand casually.

"I just -" She folded her arms and stared at the floor. "All of a sudden, there's… Mermista and Sea Hawk, you and Catra. And I want to know what it's like." She glanced up. "Sorry. I don't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"No, I'm not - I'm not _uncomfortable_ about it," Adora replied quickly. "It's just that I haven't talked about it before. It feels almost like a secret." She looked down at Glimmer. For all her maturation over the last few years, for becoming a hero and a Queen and a Sorceress, Adora realized that that nervous, spontaneous, passionate girl that captured her in the woods was still in there somewhere. She felt herself smile. "But we tell each other secrets, right?"

Glimmer smiled back, a sort of wistful smile. "Yeah," she agreed quietly. _Every secret we can figure out, at least._

Adora leaned forwards on her knees, making her way back to that day. "Beneath the Heart of Etheria… I was dying," she began, looking down at her hands. "I was ambushed by a First Ones guardian. It was, uh… not pleasant. Really painful. I must have fallen unconscious, because then I heard Catra calling to me from somewhere in the distance, even though last thing I remembered was that we were right next to each other."

Glimmer listened quietly, trying not to stare. She felt her heart start to quicken.

"Anyway, she… reached me somehow," Adora continued, "and said she loved me. And… it was like everything suddenly made sense. It was like for years, there was a door I didn't even notice and Catra just kicked it down." She chuckled. "Then she kissed me, and all of a sudden She-Ra just exploded out of me."

Glimmer had turned to stare at the door, wrapped up in a daydream. It was fuzzy and fragmented, but she saw herself talking with someone, embracing someone, falling into someone's kiss.

Adora realized Glimmer was blushing and something clicked. "Wait," she said, standing. "You've got to tell me who you've got a crush on."

"What?!" Glimmer squeaked, waving her hands in front of her. "I don't -"

"We're telling secrets, so you have to tell me your secret!" Adora cried, messing up Glimmer's hair. "It's one for one!"

Glimmer batted her hands away. "Adora! It's not that simple!" She folded her arms again as Adora stopped and sat down next to her. "I don't know whether it's a crush."

Adora raised an eyebrow. "I feel like you'd know if it was a crush."

"No, 'cause…" She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "It's Bow."

Adora didn't say anything, giving Glimmer a little space to explain. But she knew that if she had ten more seconds to guess she could have done it.

"The thing is, of course I love Bow. When we took out the Horde, he ran off to activate Entrapta's machine, and, you know… we didn't know what would happen. So I told him I loved him, and then he said it back, and then he kissed me on the forehead."

Adora blinked. "Well, that sounds sort of familiar."

"But, I mean, at the time, it didn't even feel like anything had changed. It felt… obvious. And even now, I don't know what it really _means_ for us."

Adora looked back down at her hands. They were callused and rough on the inside, well-kept on the outside. Strong, gentle. "You know," she began lowly. "When you met me, I was Force Captain Adora, proud Horde soldier. And then I was nothing, and then I was She-Ra, a Princess, a Rebellion leader. But every day I'm reminded of the Horde, with Catra and Scorpia, and I think about the few good things that became part of me then. And now it's just easier to think of myself as… me."

Glimmer pursed her lips. "I don't know where you're going with this."

"Okay, point is, why do you need a label? Why do you need to find out what it really means?"

The door opened just before Adora could finish her sentence. Entrapta poked her head into the room. "Dinner is at seven!" she said. "Darla has a schedule, and we all have to keep it!" She grabbed one of the canisters with her hair and looked it over. "Ooh, carb sluice! Do this one!" And with that, she was gone, the door sliding shut behind her.

Glimmer, her train of thought thoroughly derailed, turned with a small smile. "Thanks, Adora," she said. "Anyway, should I try cooking again? I only really know how to do the one thing."

"Hold on," Adora said, picking up the notepad that fell on the floor. "... How many water supplements did I count? Seventeen?"

"I don't remember."

Adora groaned.

* * *

Weeks passed. The days started slowly and then began to blend together. Bow brought cards, which eventually became the main way for them to pass the time. Scorpia had to keep her cards on the floor behind her because she found them difficult to hold, and Catra had to sit across the circle from Scorpia because she couldn't help but peek. Otherwise, they found themselves breaking into ridiculous improvised skits, tuneless song, and, from time to time, small groups of quiet conversation.

This is all to say that Catra had a very difficult time getting Adora alone. Outside of the storage room and the engine room, below deck, there were no private spaces. The sleeping chambers (which were really no more than horizontal cabinets) fit at most one person, and even the bathroom was just made for one. One day - it must have been eleven or twelve by that point - she finally saw Adora head unprompted into the engine room, slipped in behind her, and shut the door. "Hey, Adora."

Adora turned, having just reached the bottom of the stairs. Catra didn't let her respond before she practically leapt onto her, wrapping her into a tight, sudden kiss. Adora's heel caught the floor and she tripped backwards, Catra landing on top of her. "Hey!" Adora cried. "Warn me."

"Couldn't you put two and two together?" Catra asked, her voice dropping into that warm, silky range she was getting accustomed to. She drew a hand down Adora's jawline, letting it rest on her chin and leaning down for another kiss. "I'm starving over here."

Adora brushed a strand of Catra's hair off her forehead and combed gently down to the back of her neck. "Me too," she murmured. "Once we get to the planet…" Another kiss. "We just stretch our legs and keep to ourselves for a little while."

Catra didn't reply, and allowed them to lapse briefly into one another. They'd gotten away with little moments over the last week and a half, but restrained themselves. Imagine if she'd been able to convince Adora to go alone with her. Just the two of them, among the stars. She shoved the stray thought away and guided Adora gently to sit against the metal wall of the engine room so she could sit more comfortably in her lap.

"Catra," Adora said eventually, separating, keeping a hand on her neck. "Bow sent me down here to check something with the engine."

"Be a little late," Catra replied. "I wanna make up some lost time."

Adora's small smile fell as what she meant dawned on her. The impact hit Catra at the same time, and she felt herself flush. Maybe she said too much. "Sorry," she murmured, looking away.

"No," Adora replied, and let her hand fall onto Catra's. "You're right." For a moment, they could read one another with a look. Catra felt Adora's quiet longing, and Adora saw nothing but pain spelled across Catra's face. Adora sighed a little and stood, offering Catra a hand.

Catra stayed sitting against the wall. "I'm alright."

Adora paused, then took out her notebook and examined part of the engine. Behind a thick panel of glass, a pink crystal was connected to gears and spinning in place in a vat of some sort of liquid. A small readout next to it gave some numbers. "Fifty-two," she muttered, and wrote it down.

"Twenty-seven," Catra replied, and smirked up at her.

Adora snorted. "Nice try. It's only one number." She put the notepad in her pocket and leaned down to help Catra up again. This time, she accepted. "I have an idea," she added. "I've been thinking about it for a little while. What if you… apologize to Scorpia?"

Catra paled a little. "We're - we're cool now. Why?"

"No, I know, she doesn't hold grudges. But I think that you'd feel better."

A sinking feeling grew gradually in the pit of Catra's stomach. "I feel fine," she replied, her stare hardening.

Adora stared for a moment. Then, she shook her head and drew Catra into a brief hug. "Love you." With that, Adora offered another passing smile and headed back upstairs.

After a moment of being alone in the dim room with the churning of the engines, Catra leaned back against the wall and slid to the floor with a deep sigh. She felt tears push against the corners of her eyes and wiped them away preemptively, nicking her cheek with a claw as she did. She winced. Hadn't done that in a few years.

Suddenly, Melog appeared next to her. She jumped to her feet reflexively. "What - how long have you been here?!"

 _Scorpia means a lot to you, doesn't she?_ Melog chittered, ignoring her question.

"You don't have to listen into _all_ my conversations." Catra slid back to the floor, her legs folded.

 _Your kind have a certain aura about you, you know,_ Melog purred, moving over to lay across Catra's lap. _Some of it is scent, some of it is small sounds. Some of it is a personal energy, where all a creature's emotions lie. It's useful to learn to navigate this aura._

Catra hesitated and then slowly started to pet Melog. "Yeah?"

_You're frustrated, Catra. Around Scorpia, you can be cold._

"Thanks for the commentary," she snarked. "What else do you want to define about me?"

Melog turned over on her lap. _You have an angry love._

Catra flushed. "I wish you wouldn't speak in riddles."

 _It greatly entertains me,_ Melog replied with a purr. _I suggest you listen to Adora. There is a wisdom to her. That is, after all, the essence of magic._

"Ugh," Catra grunted, and stood, picking Melog up. "I don't know how I'm going to put up with you two for a month and a half."

Suddenly, Catra's ear twitched as a sharp beep sounded throughout the ship. From the deck, she heard the ship's cool, robotic voice: "Incoming transmission."

* * *

It had begun to rain. The Whispering Woods had regrown rapidly as soon as the Heart was destroyed. He remembered the great trouble it had given him over the two decades he resided alongside it. As though the greatest natural battlement of all time, the Woods stood in opposition to any army he dispensed, and the Rebellion did not have to lift a finger.

Now, he sat in the damp soil underneath a pale broad-leafed tree, taking refuge from the storm and catching his breath. He cast a solemn look at the sky and gently touched the small crystal on the front of his armor.

The first thing she did when he was released was blather about the nanomachines she'd been experimenting with, and then placed something on his body. He remembered feeling stronger, his head clearing as he stood to his full height for the first time in days. When he adjusted to the darkness of the room outside of his magical prison, their eyes met.

He glimpsed She-Ra behind him cutting a hole out of the wall as Entrapta raised herself up to about his height. "We don't have a lot of time," she said, and pressed the crystal into his palm. He looked down at it, at the smooth metal now covering his malformed arms. "There are instructions built into the armor. You don't need the crystal, but it should help."

He placed it gingerly into the slot on the sternum and felt a surge of energy like electricity run through his core. "Princess Entrapta," he said, feeling his voice return: "it's brilliant."

When he looked back up, there were tears at the corners of Entrapta's eyes. "I'll be gone for -"

The chunk of wall hit the floor with a dull thud behind them. She-Ra had placed it neatly next to the hole she'd carved. "We're ready."

Entrapta took a small disc out of her satchel and placed it where the prisons had been. There, a bright, solid-looking hologram appeared, looking exactly like the magic circles and his own decrepit body. She turned back to him. "I'll be gone," she said simply, and landed back on her feet, stepping forwards to embrace him.

He hesitated, unsure of how to react. That had happened the first time, too. This time, he wouldn't let it slip away. He cautiously wrapped his arms around her and they stayed for a long few moments.

Entrapta finally stepped back and reached up to press a small button on his shoulder with her hair. Part of the armor rearranged behind him, forming a large, thin tarp above him. "What's this?" he asked, turning to try to look at it.

"It's a glider," Entrapta giggled. "Just one of a couple functions I built into her."

"Her?"

"Her name is Susan." Entrapta beamed and pushed him towards the hole in the wall. "No time like now for a test run!"

He turned as they reached the wall. "Entrapta," he began. Then, he looked down and took her hand. "Thank you."

The tears returned to Entrapta's eyes, and she quickly wiped them away with her hair. "Stay safe," she replied quietly.

Suddenly, from behind him, he heard the crunch of foliage underfoot, interrupting his memory. He pressed the third button on his left shoulder, which he learned about earlier that day. The wave of nanomachines spread over his skin and turned semisolid. From the outside, Entrapta had informed him through her messages, he would be indistinguishable from a stone.

"Ah, good," he heard from the direction of the footsteps. "I'll just wait this out here." Then, before he could register what was happening, someone walked up and sat directly onto him.

He flailed and quickly stood, dispersing the camouflage. He scowled as he realized who it was. A clone. He must not be far from Bright Moon.

The clone looked up. A basket of berries he was carrying had spilled out across the undergrowth as he was tossed from his position. With a look up at his face, down at his armor, and back up at his face, the clone gasped. "You must be the real Hordak."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your comments and your continued interest in the story! Given my current working speed, I should be able to put out a chapter every 3-5 days, with chapters coming sporadically faster when I'm hit with a writing mood. Hopefully this schedule doesn't backfire on me


	5. CHAPTER II: Close Encounter

"Patch it through," Adora commanded. The crew was huddled around the center of the dashboard, staring expectantly at the glowing sphere hovering over it.

"How are we making contact this far out?" Bow muttered, rubbing his chin. "Is the ship going faster than we thought?"

"Nope!" Entrapta chirped. "The signal must be incredible. That is, if it's coming from the planet." She quickly began running an echolocation radar. "But there's a good chance -"

Suddenly, there was some noise from the dashboard. It sounded almost like speech. Adora waved her arms wildly to quiet everyone. "What's it saying?"

"Initializing multidirectional universal translator," Darla intoned. "Identified: Isorai." The noise faded and was replaced by Darla's voice, halfway through a sentence: "- name and planet of origin. We also require your intended purpose of visit."

Adora snapped her fingers at Bow and gestured excitedly. "Notepad, notepad," she whispered. She snatched it from Bow's hand as soon as he offered it, and cleared her throat. "The first part of your transmission was lost," she said into the dashboard, trying to buy time as she flipped through her scripts. "Please repeat."

"Oh, also," Entrapta said, tapping a series of buttons. "Tone detection."

The voice that replied was not Darla's, but a somewhat synthesized, deep, stern voice. "You have entered the territory of Isora. Identify yourself with your name and planet of origin. We also require -"

"Queen Glimmer, and crew, of Etheria," Glimmer announced proudly, interrupting the voice. "And we -"

"We are here as peaceful envoys," Adora quickly jumped in. She showed Glimmer the notepad and whispered, "Follow the script!"

Glimmer squinted at her. "Why did you write a script?" she whispered back.

"I can't believe you have to ask that question!" Adora hissed.

"We show no record of Etheria." The transmission buzzed with static for a moment.

Adora rapidly flipped back four pages. "Etheria was caught inside a pocket dimension for several centuries, but has returned to the rest of the universe. Upon our return, we were assaulted by the Horde, which we repelled and destroyed."

She turned a page in the notepad, preparing for a response. But the response didn't come.

"You scared 'em off," Catra chuckled, leaning up against the dashboard.

"Hello?" Glimmer said, tapping the nano-projection. "There's no way we broke it, right? I didn't even _think_ about breaking the spaceship." She put her hands on her head. "Now I can't _stop_ thinking about breaking the spaceship."

"One moment. Please cease your approach."

The voice cut off and then Darla's voice returned: "Transmission ended."

Scorpia put her pincers on her hips. "They seem friendly."

"Darla, thrusters off!" Entrapta said. The radar had returned with a ping. "Scans say there's a planetoid about a day away. That's almost definitely where the transmission came from. But the planetoid is so small, Darla detected it as an asteroid first." She waved her hands in excitement like she was trying to dry them off. "That means that someone colonized an entire asteroid, or maybe a small moon!" She cackled and wiggled her fingers over the dashboard, ready to get back to work.

"Hold on," Glimmer said quickly. "Before they come back… Darla! What do you know about Isora?"

"Administrator not detected."

Glimmer blanked, then turned to Entrapta, her eyes narrowed. "Did you really not make me an administrator?"

"Not yet," Entrapta replied, turning. She realized Glimmer might be upset about this. "I mean… Darla, add Glimmer as an administrator."

"New user added. Welcome, Glimmer."

Glimmer pinched the bridge of her nose. "Darla, what do you know about Isora?"

The dashboard hummed briefly and a holo-screen appeared in midair. "Isora is a Class II magical homeworld. It is inhabited by the Isorai peoples, categorized as: Humanoid. Aquarian. Arboriform. Chitinous."

As Darla mentioned these categories, rough silhouettes of creatures appeared on the holo-screen. The first seemed normal, and the second did as well, with the addition of wing-like expansions beneath their arms stretching to their feet. The third seemed rougher around the edges, but otherwise identical. And the last one seemed completely alien, a hunched-over, four-legged, insect-like creature sporting two lobster-like claws rather than hands.

Scorpia instantly pointed. "Hey, look!" She jauntily snapped a pincer. "I wonder if they're long-lost cousins…"

"Isora is a two-planet civilization," Darla continued. "It is 26% likely to become a Horde target in the next two hundred cycles. Its primary resources include liquid hydrogen and arcanolithine. Its pop- incoming transmission."

"Accepted," Glimmer said, looking around and realizing everyone was leaning towards the dashboard expectantly.

"Greetings, Queen Glimmer and crew of Etheria," a synthesized voice began. It was a different voice, a smooth feminine contralto. "Welcome to Isora, Outpost C. I am Ordnance Commander Bella. We request that you stop by our station before you enter the system proper." A set of coordinates appeared on the holo-screen. "It is my duty to report to my commanding officers," the voice added.

Glimmer glanced over at Adora, who had paled, still flipping through her notes. On one hand, they came in peace, and hopefully wouldn't be attacked. On the other hand, this could easily be a trap. On the other other hand, they had She-Ra. She nudged Adora and nodded. "We're close. You can expect us soon."

"What?" Adora whispered loudly, almost dropping her notebook. "Glimmer, we have to talk about this kind of thing before we make decisions!"

"Thank you, Queen Glimmer," came the voice. "You are on radar."

There was a moment of static and then Darla intoned: "Transmission ended."

"Glimmer! -" Adora started.

"I did _not_ act without thinking," Glimmer snapped. "It's not likely that this is a trap. And if it is, we have _you_. Also!" she added quickly, seeing Adora about to respond. "What do you think would happen if we just ignored them? At best, they'd be hostile to us, and at worst, we'd be fugitives! We _don't know_ how this works yet."

Adora put her hands on her hips, trying to come up with some way to rebut this. After a second, she gave a clipped sigh. "You're right. I didn't have any notes for this anyway. But just remember going forwards… She-Ra isn't perfect."

"Oh, don't be so humble," Bow rejoined, clapping a hand excitedly to Adora's and Glimmer's shoulders. "What could they throw at us that you couldn't take on?"

"I'm not being humble?" Adora turned to Bow. "Like, I'm pretty sure She-Ra couldn't handle a massive fireball or something like that. Can you cut a fireball with a sword?"

"Can there even be fireballs in space?" Bow retorted. Then, he paused. "Entrapta, can there be fireballs in space?"

"It's complicated."

"See?" Bow said, patting her on the shoulder again. "You've got this. You're She-Ra, remember? You saved the universe. You can keep our crew in one piece."

Adora raised a finger to retort, then thought better of it and slid her hands down her face with a groan. "Fine. I got this." She gestured in a vague, frustrated way and slunk off to the supply room. "I'll get dinner together."

Glimmer held out a fist for Bow to bump as Adora walked away. "I am designating you Captain of Pep Talks."

Bow returned the fist-bump and added an explosion, wiggling his fingers. "All in a day's work."

* * *

Nominally, when Darla went into sleep mode, the viewport would become opaque and the deck would be lit only by small lights along its major pathways. But Scorpia had a difficult time sleeping with the darkness and the rumbling of the engine. It had surprised her; all her life, it was nearly pitch-black at night and there was the distant sound of industrial rumbling. But ever since she first saw the cosmos up close, unhidden by Etheria's atmosphere, she couldn't stop thinking about it. She asked Entrapta if she would leave the viewport open for a little while every night, and Entrapta agreed.

Sometimes they talked a little, though never about much. They might talk about that night's card game, they might talk about an argument someone had, they might talk about home. Sometimes, Entrapta would chatter about the ship until Scorpia fell asleep (though she never meant to). But tonight Scorpia got comfortable on her little bed of extra sheets and luggage and just stared up at the stars.

A squeak and then a hiss came from the back of the room, towards the sleeping chambers. "Shh!" she heard, and turned to look. Catra was up. "Why do you sleep right next to my bed tube?" she was asking her little cat friend, whose tail she'd apparently stepped on. There was a purr, and Catra hissed, "That's none of your business!"

Scorpia turned back around to look at the stars as Entrapta hurriedly closed the dashboard and slapped her visor down. But, as it turned out, Catra wasn't just going to the restroom. In fact, she hesitated for a moment and then stepped silently over to Scorpia. Scorpia turned, sitting up to lean on her elbow.

Catra looked back at the sleeping chambers, all still sealed into the wall, and then up at the stars. Finally, she sat next to Scorpia, her knees pressed to her chest. "... Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Scorpia frowned. "S-sure," she stammered. "What's up, wildcat?" Catra would never start a conversation like this unless something was very wrong.

"Nothing," Catra replied, her voice low. "I just wanted to chat. We might not have a lot of free time once we reach the planet, right?"

For a moment, Scorpia waited for her to continue, mostly because she was unsure how to respond.

Catra inhaled. "We haven't really talked a lot since… you know. The battle."

"Sorry about that," Scorpia replied, sitting up. Maybe this was going to be a real, normal conversation. "I thought I'd give you a moment to breathe, 'cause that must have been a lot. But maybe I gave you too much time to breathe. That's my fault."

"No," Catra replied sternly. "It's my fault. The reason you haven't talked to me in weeks is because I - I was…" She grumbled and brushed a hand through her hair. It had started to grow back, now a little messier than before. "I was horrible to you."

Scorpia blinked. Catra had looked away, staring off into the stars. She realized with a dreadful, sinking feeling that Catra might be right. Of course she'd forgiven her. The Horde had made a mess of her and she'd made a mess of herself, and as soon as she was ready to change, Scorpia was there with a hug. But maybe it wasn't that simple. That spark she felt when she saw her, first of friendship, then of maybe something more - that was gone. It hadn't even reverted back into the feeling of camaraderie she got from seeing Perfuma or Entrapta or Glimmer or Adora. It had simply disappeared.

She realized she hadn't spoken in several solid seconds when Catra continued with a dry laugh. "You've never been speechless before."

"I'm thinking," Scorpia replied quietly.

Catra's tail flicked restlessly. "Anyway, Adora and Melog told me to come say sorry," she began. Scorpia could hear the pivot in her voice from defensive to vulnerable. "And I'm sorry. I am. I was so stressed, and I couldn't think, and those are excuses anyway. I shouldn't have insulted you. I shouldn't have driven you away."

Before she could finish, Scorpia leaned forwards to wrap her in a hug. She knew just the kind, too: the firm but gentle one, sort of cradling. "Hey, it's okay."

"It's not okay," Catra said, wavering. "I was a terrible friend, and when you left, I missed you so much, and it was all my fault." Scorpia felt her returning the hug, which had never happened before, and something - pride, relief, concern - swelled in her. Something melancholy, too.

"Come on, Catra." She felt those emotions tugging at her. "If you start crying, then I'm gonna cry, and we're gonna wake everybody up."

Catra sighed a little against her shoulder. "I'm not gonna cry." They sat for a moment, and that frenetic energy dissipated. Catra backed away and put her hands uncomfortably in her lap. "I, um… I was distracted a lot when we knew each other back in the Horde. I got annoyed easily. But you're a good friend, even though I never noticed."

It was almost like a dream. Scorpia wiped at the corner of her eye with one of her spare blankets. "I appreciate it, Catra," she managed.

"How are you not angry at me?" Catra asked, finally making eye contact again.

"What? I've never been angry at you," Scorpia replied, feeling herself start to smile. It fell away. "Just disappointed."

Catra stared for a moment, then nodded. "Me, too." She paused, then chuckled. "That's not true. I've been _furious_ at myself before."

Scorpia swallowed the urge for just one more hug. "Well… I, um, I accept your apology," she said. "I don't think anyone's ever apologized to me before."

"You have to start expecting more of people," Catra said with a little smirk. She looked up at the stars again and rose, dusting off her pants. "I should let you get to sleep," she said. "But… talk to me tomorrow, if you want. Just to catch up."

"Be careful what you wish for," Scorpia said, beaming.

Catra laughed a little, then turned to head back to her sleeping chamber. "And… thank you," she added, glancing back.

Scorpia waved a little and laid back down with a slow, contented sigh, feeling tears form at the corners of her eyes. They'd been a long time coming. She had no idea what happened since she left the Fright Zone, but it was transformative. There was always something there in Catra, something she could never quite reach. And she thought that, perhaps, it had finally surfaced.

From the back of the room, she heard the chamber close with a whirr, and saw the green oxygen light and red prep light go on. "Alright, Entrapta," she stage-whispered. "Coast's clear."

A series of beeps and the clacking of buttons. "Flight log, day 13," Entrapta began as quietly as possible. "Dear Hordak."

Scorpia felt a smile cross her face as Entrapta recorded her nightly message. Sleep approached. Small memories of Catra popped into her mind little by little: the first time they met, trying on clothes for Princess Prom, sharing a blanket on the way back from the Northern Reaches. As she drifted off, she felt herself slip into those old feelings and she noticed her face growing hot.

After a moment of realization, she opened her eyes. "That's not good."

* * *

"Okay," Bow began, trying to contain his laughter. He managed to wrangle everyone into a group around the captain's chair. "When she stands up fully, everyone at once. Follow my lead."

Darla had entered morning mode almost an hour ago, and Glimmer was the only one still in her chamber. Entrapta hit a handful of buttons and the chamber opened with a whirr, turning out of the wall. Slowly, Glimmer shifted, tossed her sheet to the floor, and rose to her feet, barely awake.

"Good morning, Captain!" the crew shouted all at once, and started to clap. Catra howled with laughter while Entrapta played a snippet of triumphant music over the ship's speakers. It wasn't long before all of them were laughing.

Glimmer stared bleakly, picked up her sheet, and laid back down in her sleeping chamber. This did not quiet them. "Captain, nooo!" Adora called. "We require your guidance!"

"Captaaain!" Bow cried. "There's a fleet of enemy ships on our tail!" He and Adora mimicked laser noises. "No, they've got us! If only they hadn't attacked so early in the morning!"

Suddenly, the ship rumbled and there was a small beep of a notification from the dashboard. "Fast-moving anomaly detected. Anomaly lost."

Bow and Adora sobered up immediately, looking at one another. "Entrapta, status?" Adora asked.

"It's not funny, guys!" Glimmer called, still half-asleep.

"Something's caught in our radar, but then it disappears again every few seconds," Entrapta responded, displaying the radar on a holo-screen. "Seems to be coming from the debris field to our nine o'clock. When Darla detects an anomaly, she means it's moving abnormally," she adds, showing a small graphic of the object's leaping motions.

"How far?" Adora asked, checking the viewport.

"This isn't a joke anymore, Glimmer!" Bow yelped, and jogged over to the open sleeping chamber.

"Yeah, what a coincidence."

"Glimmer!" Bow practically shrieked. "I am _dead_ serious!"

"Looks like half a mile and approaching rapidly," Entrapta said. "It can't be a spacefaring organism, can it? Could it?" She whipped around and shook Adora by the shoulders using her hair. "I have to study it!"

"Let's make sure it's _hostile_ first before we go around destroying wildlife!" Adora cried. "Bow, you're on manual nav!"

"Right!" Bow replied, hurrying back to sit in the commander's chair. The nanotech rose to hover around the chair in a violet sphere and wrapped around his forearms. He remembered the sensation well and felt the controls a little, wiggling the ship. "Ready!"

Adora, in the meantime, was calling commands. "Catra, Scorpia, guns! You know your stations! Entrapta, you're on relay! Glimmer, suit up, you're on field control!"

Glimmer exploded with frantic movement. " _Where's the suit?!_ "

"Closing!" Entrapta called over the speakers. "Two hundred feet!"

"It's coming for us," Adora muttered, and held her hand out. _It's been a little while,_ she thought, searching for She-Ra like a weapon in the dark. And there, the warmth of magic started, spilling over her in a wave. "For the honor of Grayskull!"

Catra turned before she stepped into the modified turret, allowing herself to get just a little distracted by the flash of magical light. She always forgot how tall and _fit_ She-Ra was. "Hey, Adora," she murmured to herself with a little smirk, and slipped into the turret.

In the meantime, the deck had gone still. Bow and Entrapta were at their stations, secured in Entrapta's new restraints, prepared to react, and Scorpia and Catra were sealed in their turrets. Only Glimmer was moving, hurriedly pulling her suit on. "Entrapta, relay," Adora said.

"Oh, right. It should be here."

"Entrapta, I'm going to need you to relay more often." Adora looked suspiciously around outside of the viewport. It was far too quiet.

Then, a gargantuan thud as something huge contacted the ship. Darla's voice came calmly over the speakers: "Shields at 89% capacity." Suddenly, just for a few seconds, Adora saw something phase into view - an enormous segmented creature, its long body crossing the entirety of the viewport, dozens of legs bigger than a person clattering against the thick semiglass of the ship. As quickly as it appeared, it flickered out of view again… almost digitally.

Adora scowled. "Bow, keep us in range, but evade. Glimmer," she said, turning just as Glimmer had popped her helmet on. "Follow me."

Bow heard the airlock open and gave them a few moments to secure themselves. Then, as soon as Darla alerted him that the airstairs had opened, he inhaled and entered a spin.

In the meantime, Glimmer heard only the sound of her own panicked breathing. All of a sudden, the ship had accelerated away from her, tugging her along using her full-body harness, and the stars spun around her. There was no up or down, no gravity, natural or otherwise. She couldn't concentrate on anything, not even a coherent train of thought.

Then, a burst of light somewhere in her periphery. It brought her back to her senses: danger, spaceship, She-Ra. She carefully traced a sigil in front of her, feeling the rush of magic as she propelled herself steady. The stars and distant debris stabilized, and she whipped around to the source of the light. There, streaking towards the ship in a pastel rainbow, was She-Ra, glowing like a comet.

Suddenly, and soundlessly, She-Ra's clenched fist darted forwards, and Glimmer saw a massive creature, its metallic exoskeleton glowing in the dim light of the distant yellow sun, wrapped almost completely around the ship. It took the punch and dented, but remained, curling more tightly around the ship. Then, it vanished. Glimmer gasped, but then heard a buzzing in her helmet. "You alright?"

Her breathing steadied as a sense of relief flooded through her. "Bow," she said, then realized her plan of attack. "How do I get back to the ship?"

Bow didn't reply for a moment. Then, a spike of static. "Button on your left wrist," he said. "And be careful. Our shields are taking a lot of damage, fast."

In the meantime, Scorpia had just become accustomed to the limited space of the turret and felt around in the dim light for her claw-holsters. They'd practiced a little with the turrets over the weeks, but Entrapta had assured them there was no need to do drills or anything. After all, she'd said, significant hull damage would cause all the turrets and sleeping chambers to eject and enter cryostasis and send out a rescue signal, and it sure would be unfortunate if that happened accidentally.

The system flickered on and Scorpia instantly knew why they didn't need to practice. This was repurposed Horde tech, or at least some sort of imitation of it. A holo-screen appeared in front of her, showing a violet digital approximation of the outside of the ship. The lock-on moved with her eye. "Sweet," she said, locking on a nearby piece of debris. "Hey, Bow, where's the thing?"

The intercom fizzled for a second. "Scorpia? It's on the ship. We're evading. Hang on to something."

"What -"

The ship lurched, barrelling right, and outside, Adora had found a grip on the side of the thing and strained to pull it. She felt one leg loosen, and then another, but there were hundreds, and if she strained harder, she might dent the ship herself. " _Glimmer!_ " she shouted.

But Glimmer was already on it. She'd pulled herself closer to the ship, shortening her belay line; for this to work, she'd have to see every one of the creature's legs. There was a physical tenseness to Sorcery. Your hands must be steady, and your mind must be clear. Before her, she formed the Telekinetic Bubble sigil, one she'd been working on since she began her training. But bigger, grander, more complex. _A certain application of geometry,_ she heard Shadow Weaver's cool, confident voice.

Adora stepped back, hanging onto the smooth metal hull of the ship as a bright, shimmering pink aura surrounded the creature and, with great effort, pulled its many legs from the hull.

"Bow," Glimmer managed, the weight of the magic surging through her. "Accelerate."

"On it." Bow sprang forwards, and the ship obeyed. In a burst of movement, Darla shot out of reach of the creature, and Glimmer finally let out a breath as the spell faded.

The creature writhed and flattened. Just before it vanished again, Adora and Glimmer saw it in its totality: a centipede, composed entirely of sleek grey metal, hundreds of segments long, two sharp legs per segment. Glimmer yelped as she was tugged along with the ship, which flipped around to face the creature's last location.

"On you!" Catra heard Bow's voice over the intercom. She allowed herself a little maniacal glee as she gripped the controls. The feel of the joystick in her hand brought back a cavalcade of memories - not all of them good, but all of them provocative.

Catra prepared to face the creature, prepared to lock on instinctively - but there was nothing there. She squeezed the joystick. "Where's the enemy?"

"It phases in and out of visibility! It must have some sort of total cloaking device. Maybe it's broken, though," Entrapta said, her voice dripping with eager intrigue.

Then, everyone paused as She-Ra rushed forwards in a blazing streak of light, her sword at her hand. With one smooth motion, she separated the invisible creature in two, right down the middle. It shifted back into visibility, and for a moment, as small gears and wires floated through space around the cut, it fell immobile.

Then, both halves stirred and, with frightening speed, wrapped completely around She-Ra.

The crew leapt into action. Scorpia and Catra aimed for the outside of the machine, firing round after round of glowing greenish-blue plasma. The bursts rippled along the creature's outside, apparently leaving it unharmed, but it remained visible. She-Ra strained within the creature's hulking body, and slowly the metal shifted around her.

Glimmer felt the exhaust of powerful magic setting in. It was too early in the morning for this. She formed one more sigil, the White Lance, and her muscles screamed at her. "Here we go, here we go, here we go," she intoned, centering herself, and sent the Lance streaming towards the creature.

Between the plasma launchers, the lance hit one of the halves of the creature squarely in the center, piercing part of its metallic shell and interrupting its constriction. Adora gritted her teeth and seized the moment. She pushed once more and ruptured the other half of the creature, quickly following up by tearing a dramatic gash along its underside.

An explosion rippled through space, sending She-Ra flying backwards to the ship. Glimmer hurriedly smacked the button on her wrist, sending her reeling back to the ship as well. She landed on the hull next to She-Ra and quickly prepared a bubble spell, just in case she began to revert. But she didn't. She sat up and Glimmer saw her say, "Did we get it?"

Glimmer sighed with relief and put an arm around She-Ra, her muscles thumping. The pierced half of the creature flickered a little, fading momentarily out of sight, but remained still. "We're headed back in," she messaged to Bow, and shook her head to clear her thoughts.

Adora glanced down and stood, picking Glimmer up. "Let's hope there was only one," Glimmer saw her say as the airstairs opened once more.

None of them noticed a stray piece of debris nearby with a lens, focusing and refocusing on She-Ra. The video it recorded headed straight to Outpost C, where it cast a dim bluish glow across the station's transmissions room. As the Gauge 8 Phase Centipede exploded, the five remaining members of the outpost team went silent.

Her inferiors turned slowly to face her, unaware of how to respond or how she might respond. After all, that was millions of marks worth of ordnance, and that would likely show on her record. But it was a necessary sacrifice. She gently adjusted her roots and straightened her uniform. "Breathtaking, isn't it?" she asked no one in particular.

* * *

They crested the broad, grassy hill as a gentle zephyr passed, rustling the leaves in the trees. Beyond, the forest softened, bright greens and colorful blossoms filled a rolling valley. Plumeria, the weakest of the Kingdoms, virtually defenseless outside of its Princess. And, as his little brother had informed him, the place they were most likely to receive sanctuary.

"Mermista," he had said, "she can be touchy. I believe her home was recently destroyed by the Horde, as well, so she may not be pleased to see you. Frosta, perhaps, but she's quite far from here by now. However, Perfuma," he'd added, nodding cheerily, "I'm sure she'll welcome you with open arms."

His clone was smaller, slighter of build than he was, his bone and soft tissue still dyed by his exposure to the Pit of Suffering. After their initial conflict, Hordak still found himself somewhat appalled by his little brother, if only because his appearance reminded him of his brief time re-absorbed into the Hivemind. He recalled the terrible clawing sensation he felt buried deep in the back of his mind, a desperation to escape, and his little brother's bright green teeth sickened him.

But after they traveled together for several days, the disgust left him. Perhaps his little brother's optimism could be irritating from time to time. There was no need to point out every bird or explain what he had learned about every flower. There was more important business at hand. But there was an earnestness to him, and it reminded Hordak of her.

One night, over their meager dinner of edible mushrooms his little brother had recognized, Hordak offered his first question. "Why did you feel compelled to help me? You, too, are a fugitive now."

He remembered the exact tone with which his little brother responded: measured surprise that he was even being asked such a question. "You're Entrapta's friend. So am I. Doesn't that make us friends?"

He'd scowled and replied, "Definitively, no." But the answer stuck with him.

Now that they'd made their way out of the Whispering Woods, and hadn't heard even a hint of guards or Sorcerers on their path, Hordak was on edge. "You're sure this is safe? I cannot risk being re-captured," he growled.

"Of course it's safe, I think." His little brother nodded, confusingly confident. "From what I know of Perfuma."

Hordak huffed and pressed two buttons on the left side of his neck. The nanomachines rearranged themselves around one of his eyes, allowing him some limited telescoping. The image was digital and fuzzy, but he could see some of the citizens of Plumeria at their daily business. No weapons, from what he could tell, and no Castle guards. He grimaced, that sense of risk remaining. "I suppose -"

Suddenly, his suit beeped and he flinched, the nanotech returning to support his upper back. "Accept transmission?" the suit buzzed in a staticky voice.

He felt a prickling run through him. "Yes," he muttered, glancing over at his little brother.

"Flight log, day 1," came a garbled recording. They gasped at the same time. "Dear Hordak. I have to talk quiet and at night because Glimmer is here and she still hates you."

Hordak sat down carefully so as to avoid accidentally turning off the transmission. "These might take some time to reach you, since space is so big. But I just have to tell you about all of the new things I'm learning about this ship!" Her voice was bright, even behind the layers of static. In that moment, his goal of escape seemed fleeting and childish. There was only one thing in the universe that he wanted, and that was to speak to her again.

His little brother sat down next to him after a beat, and they listened, forgetting their journey for a quiet moment. And it was over as suddenly as it had begun.

"Signing off. Miss you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a bonus, I've drawn the S:CR redesigns of Catra and Adora. The next chapter is started, but it likely won't be out in two days, since I'm starting to edit my video essay. Thanks for your continued patronage!
> 
> https://i.imgur.com/v9TbHlL.png


	6. CHAPTER III: Getting There

Entrapta, Bow, and Catra bounded from their positions as soon as the airstairs had retracted into the ship, and they rushed to the back, almost slamming into one another in their hurry to open the airlock. A few moments later, Scorpia stumbled out of her turret, looking around at the empty ship and scratching her head. "G-guys?" She gasped, her imagination running wild. "Space magic."

The airlock whirred open after a moment. She-Ra was helping Glimmer to her feet and carefully helped her take off her helmet. Before she could finish, Bow and Catra burst into the room, Bow charging directly for Glimmer, Catra charging directly for Adora.

"I'm fine," Glimmer breathed as Bow swept her into a hug. "I just need to sit down for a little."

"I didn't know you could strain yourself like that with just Sorcery," Bow said, stepping back and taking her by the shoulders.

"It depends on how complex the spell is. I've never moved anything that big before." She felt the soreness sweep over her again as Bow took her under an arm to support her. Then, the conversation she'd had with Adora back at the beginning of the trip returned to her in snippets and she felt her cheeks grow warm. "Thanks," she added.

Bow helped her back to the deck. "For what?" he asked, looking down at her.

For a moment, she couldn't find the words to reply. "You know," she stammered. "Being there."

"Guys!" Scorpia cried, turning the corner and raising her claws. "You weren't teleported away by space magic!" She sprang forwards to pick them up in a tight hug.

"No," Glimmer choked, clawing at Scorpia's arm. "We were not."

As the airlock door closed behind them, Catra hadn't spoken yet. She was still wrapped up in her embrace. Initially, she was driven by some sort of unfounded worry, the piercing idea that She-Ra might not be enough. She remembered that sinking feeling as she watched the creature wrap around Adora until she was completely out of sight. Of course, that completely vanished within a matter of seconds. After all, she knew from experience that you could throw all sorts of tanks and bombs at She-Ra without making a scratch. But that one moment of doubt rattled her badly.

Like an exhale, She-Ra left Adora after a few moments. She shrunk between Catra's arms until she was back to the shape Catra knew best. They stood for just a little longer, lost for a long second in the feeling. Then, Catra realized that Entrapta was there, already in her space suit. She stepped back and glowered at her. "Hi, Entrapta."

"I didn't want to interrupt, but I'm going to salvage the space machine and I have to open the ship to do it. So I'm just waiting."

"I can see that."

"Sorry, Entrapta," Adora said with a half-smile, tugging Catra towards the airlock. "We need to get moving soon, so clean up as fast as you can."

As soon as the sliding door closed, Catra turned to Adora and leaned into an assertive kiss, pressing her against the wall. In any other circumstance, perhaps Adora would have considered privacy or propriety - after all, there was no barrier between the deck and the hallway leading to the airlock. But it seemed like everyone was elsewhere. And either way, they hadn't been able to sneak anything but small moments since they left and it was starting to wear her down.

Adora snickered as they briefly separated. "Were you worried about me?"

She fully expected Catra to bristle and give some sort of half-formed retort. Instead, she just narrowed her eyes a little and drew her hand along Adora's arm to intertwine their fingers. She leaned in to whisper into Adora's ear: "Do we still have the cot in the data room?"

"We are _not_. There is _no door_ to that room." Adora felt those familiar lips drift along her neck. "And that cot can't fit two anyway. It's a medical cot."

Catra felt her whole body throbbing to her pulse. Something still nagged at her. "I just have to get you alone for a little bit. All of a sudden I realize I've loved you for fifteen years and then we have to spend weeks apart?"

Her tone was measured and cool, but Adora heard the subtle desperation playing at the edge of her voice. Worse, she felt the same. She sighed, keeping an eye on the end of the hallway just in case. "Tonight," she whispered. "I don't know where we'll be because we'll be reaching the outpost before dinner. But we'll figure something out."

With a small smirk, Catra took her head between her hands. "It's a date," she said, and moved wordlessly into another kiss.

"Ow! Catra, tongue!"

"That's just how my tongue is. You're gonna have to deal with it."

"I don't know if it's, like, going to cut me, or…"

At the end of the hallway, Scorpia turned the corner to see what was keeping everyone else so long and immediately turned back around. "Whoops!" she said, but didn't hear any response. They must not have seen her. She felt herself flush and headed back to where Glimmer was resting, nervously rubbing the side of her head.

Bow was leaning against the back wall of the deck, next to Glimmer's open sleeping chamber. He raised an eyebrow as she approached. "Are you okay?"

"Nothing," Scorpia replied quickly, then narrowed her eyes. "Wait, that wasn't right." She sighed and lowered her voice to a whisper. "I think I accidentally, uh, _interrupted_ Catra and Adora."

"Oh, yeah," Bow replied with an uncomfortable chuckle. "I have, too. I mean, if - if we're going to spend months at a time in this ship, it's probably going to happen more often."

"What do I do about it? Do I apologize? Do I just not mention it?"

Bow blinked. "What do you mean? Unless you, uh... opened a door without knocking... I don't think you need to apologize."

"You're right, you're right," Scorpia said, waving her pincers a little and sitting cross-legged next to Glimmer's sleeping chamber. "Gosh, I'm just embarrassed."

Bow chuckled. "Hey, don't tell them, 'cause they'd kill me," he started, lowering his voice, "but I think they're cute together." He clasped his hands. "I've never seen Adora get flustered so easy, and Catra with her little tail - and the way they look at each other!" Bow put a hand to his heart. "My friends are in love…"

Scorpia just felt herself flush more. "Y-yeah," she stammered.

In the meantime, once Adora heard Scorpia hurry away, she gestured for Catra to move quietly with her up to the corner for some harmless eavesdropping. Catra balked as Bow mentioned her tail and Adora had to keep both hands over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"It's not easy to fall asleep when you're talking about this," Glimmer muttered from her sleeping chamber.

"Oh, sorry," Bow said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You want us to seal you in?"

Glimmer groaned. "I'm too awake to sleep anyway. Just let me rest until we get there." She paused. "... You don't think it's a little weird?"

"What, Adora and Catra?" Bow leaned back against the wall. "Mm. Well, at first. It's definitely weird that, at one point, I tried to shoot her and she threw me off a cliff." He shrugged. "But Adora was Horde too, when we met her."

"Yeah," Glimmer murmured. "I guess. But less, you know? Same with Scorpia."

"Aw, thanks! I think," Scorpia said.

"It's a good thing," Glimmer replied with a laugh. "Yeah, we fought each other, but you weren't out to completely destroy us… and the world."

Adora glanced back to Catra, both of them still hidden behind the corner. She was staring off into space, expressionless apart from her furrowed brow. Adora reached an arm around her. "Hold on," she whispered.

"What I'm getting at," Bow continued, "is that Catra's changed. Right? I don't know if it was her or Adora who started it, but a new friend is always a good thing."

Scorpia stood. "I can vouch for that," she said, feeling a bright smile come on. "She's changed a lot." She turned to glance in the direction of the hallway and her smile faltered. _And it was Adora who did it_ , she thought.

Catra wiped at her eyes as Adora pulled her a little closer. She didn't need to be reminded of any of that. That horrible gnawing feeling appeared in her stomach again, that bitter sense of guilt. But she felt Adora help her to her feet and took a moment to inhale, letting the feeling settle back down. "See?" Adora whispered.

"I guess -" Catra began before Adora took her by the hand and pulled her to the deck.

"Hey, guys!" Adora called. Bow and Scorpia practically jumped a foot off the ground. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing!" Bow and Scorpia yelped at the same time.

Catra and Adora turned to one another and broke into laughter. Something Adora had said one morning back on Etheria returned to Catra; she remembered the softness of her tone and that sappy sincerity that got on her nerves. _We'll get there._

Adora was about to speak when they were interrupted by Darla's voice: "Incoming transmission."

"Hey," Bow said as Glimmer moved to stand, and put a hand on her shoulder again. "You rest. We've got this."

* * *

The ship entered Outpost C's radar slowly. First, they learned its speed. It was impressive, to say the least. Then, they learned its composition: azurmarinite, the rarest metal in the known universe. Then, they learned its shape, which their scanners didn't recognize at all. With every new detail, her ravenous smile grew.

"Lancer, run the archives for this thing," she said, the first command she'd given in hours. Lancer nodded and headed deeper into the station. The transmissions room had been quiet outside of Tyl relaying the scans. "Daeza, get to the spaceport. And be friendly. You're the first face they'll see."

"Ordnance Commander," Daeza saluted up at her, and hurried off to the tether elevator.

Bella headed from the railing down to the pit of processors and transmitters and holo-screens. She ran a finger along the cool steel bannister, checking for dust. Not a spot. Perhaps, with this new acquisition, this would be the last time she would need to maintain this horrid metal trap of a telecoms station. "Tyl," she said, turning to look down at him. "Open transmission to the ship again."

The great greenish holo-screen above them read RELAYING... and, finally, COMPLETE.

"This is Queen Glimmer and crew," a voice picked up. It was the first voice, seemingly the older of the two. Some member of the crew, for some reason speaking for a queen.

"Ah, our Etherian guests. Welcome to the Outpost," Bella began. "You'll find the spaceport to your two o'clock. You should be able to reach it in roughly two hours. And, please, allow us to feed and house you for as long as you need. We wouldn't want to seem inhospitable."

"We appreciate the offer," the voice returned. "We can discuss our goals when we meet, Commander Bella."

She felt her eyes dilate. The few Driada that remained, herself included, had a terrible reflex; any particularly strong emotion would cause their irises to open until they nearly filled their eyes. It made life just a touch more difficult - and why not? True heroes are forged through challenge. " _Ordnance_ Commander Bella," she corrected.

"Right. My apologies," the voice replied quickly, audibly wincing. "It's sort of been a long time since I've had to use - I mean, we, um, we will arrive -"

"Please note the debris fields. Try to stay safe." She glanced at Tyl, who quickly ended the transmission. She sighed a full-body, contented sigh and walked back up to the railing. "These are children, or at least as inexperienced as children," she said aloud, again not to anyone in particular. "I assume I will not have to drill you on how this station will run when I return to Automa with our _peaceful envoys._ "

She looked around and, seeing no opposition, smiled. "Very good. Return to work." She turned and headed into the twisting caverns of the Outpost towards her quarters.

On the way, she passed Lieutenant Commander Lancer, paying him no mind. Finally, she was to be rid of Lancer. He'd been a thorn in her side since she was exiled to this disgusting microplanet. And, evidently, he was going to squeeze every last drop of aggravation out of her. "Ordnance Commander," he said as she passed.

She inhaled, feeling the stale air circulate through her skin. "Lieutenant Commander."

"If this ship is telling the truth, they're going to be difficult to handle. Maybe impossible."

She bristled and closed her eyes. "Follow me, Lancer," she said lowly, and continued to walk to her quarters. Finally, Tyl's design was going to be useful. "Are you, perhaps, suggesting that I cannot manage a handful of adolescents?"

"If they're telling the truth, they're the reason our comms from Horde Prime have hit radio silence. They're the reason we're getting reports of the clones breaking from the Hivemind, and that means it's not isolated to us."

The colossal urge to strike him to the ground spread through her, but she turned a corner and reached her quarters, calming somewhat as she opened the door with her keycard. "What is more likely," she said: "that the greatest power in the known universe was stricken down in no more than a month by a civilization that cannot put together a decent spacefaring crew? Or that our _guests_ are mistaken, and your radio silence and abandoned clones merely coincidence?"

"Either way," Lancer said. "I want in."

She laughed, something that hadn't happened in a long while. "And what do you have to offer me?"

"Guess," Lancer replied, his jaw setting. He'd arrived on Automa a few years prior and, after flitting between body modifications, had gotten himself jailed for smuggling. Several modifications, crude and unsophisticated, were still obvious across his body: a cybernetic ear, a failed digi-telescopic eye, a multitool left hand. "I'm your scapegoat."

Bella stepped into her quarters - sparse and simple, as a Driadian's ought to be. No mess or smell like lesser humanoids. Soil, water, a desk, and a mirror. On one hand, he made a decent point. She would need some sort of patsy for when some detail inevitably went wrong, and anyone less cunning than Lancer would somehow bungle that up. On the other hand…

"Lieutenant Commander," she said smoothly, reaching into her desk and removing Tyl's remote. "Since I arrived you have been flippant at best. And for years I have endured this. Do you know what this is?" She held the remote up.

He prepared to respond, and she pressed the small blue button on its front. Lancer seized, locked in place. His modified ear pulsed with electricity, sending a signal directly into his nervous system, keeping him from moving.

"A remote… disciplinary device," she continued, walking around him. He was small, like all lesser humanoids, and an acute disgust welled in her, the kind of disgust one feels when stepping on a cockroach. "Yes, tailored to you. Courtesy of your crewmate, Tyl. Are you surprised?"

A keen sense of relief swelled in her. "Tomorrow, I am going to leave this forsaken rock, and you are not going to join me." She finished her small circuit around him and leaned over to look him directly in the eye. "I have had enough of tending to wretched things like yourself. I am tired of your scent and your pathetic attempts at self-improvement." She tapped his open modified eye.

He groaned, a weak sputtering groan like that of a dying animal.

"Yes, I know. But I am merciful. Today, I will not experiment with the pain setting." She showed him the remote, revealing the yellow dial. "Well…" She turned it two degrees to the right, and Lancer grunted. "Perhaps it would be wise to test my equipment before I must rely on it."

She patted his head and pocketed the remote. "I will call you for supper," she said, leaving the room. The door closed behind her, and the last sliver of light from the hallway illuminated his one organic eye, staring back at her.

* * *

At some point as the transmission was running, Glimmer slipped into a dream. It was a turbulent dream, from what she could remember about it. Her father, his eyes glowing an alien green, spinning in a whirlwind of dark magic. Her mother, speaking with her over dinner - over the cuisine of an extinct species from a forgotten planet. Bow helping her to her feet and lifting her into the sky. Perhaps not a nightmare, but draining like one.

She awoke and looked bleary-eyed around at the deck. The ship was moving again, the engines humming through her bed. Everyone was gathered around the commander's chair laughing about something, but that feeling from her dream wouldn't go away, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Entrapta!" she shouted from her bed, slowly sitting up. Her muscles were still dully aching. "How long until we get there?"

The rest of the crew greeted her with "Hi!" and "Good morning again!" while Entrapta raised herself above the group on her hair. "Looks like another ten minutes, Captain!" she called.

Glimmer let out a heavy sigh and stood, brushing back her hair. "Cutting it close, huh? I'm going to secure the storage for landing," she said, and shuffled into the hallway.

"You need any help?" Adora called.

"No, I need to stretch," she replied, hitting the access panel to open the door. The lights flickered on; the boxes and loose canisters were mostly still in their restraints. There wasn't much to do. But as she turned around to get started, she whacked her elbow on one of the boxes, right in the nerve. She shrieked and fell to her knees. "Come on!" she shouted.

She sighed and sat down on one of the boxes. "Come on, Glimmer," she repeated, just to herself.

There was a knock on the door. "Storage got the better of you, huh?" It was Bow.

"No, I just… hit my elbow," she replied lowly. She sat for a moment, expecting a response, or departing footsteps. _Come on, Glimmer,_ she thought once more, almost like a mantra. _Queen Glimmer._ "Hey, Bow?" she began, leaning over to poke at the access panel.

The door slid open. Bow was standing there, his arms folded, and glanced around the room. "Wow, you worked fast."

She giggled and felt that restlessness rush through her again. "Do you want to… sit down for a second?"

She thought that in the dim light she saw color rise to Bow's cheeks, but she couldn't be sure. He took a seat on a box next to her. "What's up?"

Their eyes met, and the realization dawned on Glimmer. "You already know."

Bow put his hands together apprehensively. "I think maybe I do," he replied quietly. "I know it's been a long time, and I thought maybe we were just caught up in the moment… I didn't know when to bring it up."

She shook her head and felt herself smile as she remembered her conversation with Adora. "There aren't rules to it." She hesitated and reached out for Bow's hands. "So…" That restlessness turned rapidly to a profound nervousness.

Bow was one step ahead of her. "So do you want to give it a try?"

Glimmer giggled again and met his gaze and nodded, and all of a sudden it was happening. She'd put off imagining it, but doubted it would have done it justice. His kiss began weak, nervous, but she pulled him a little closer and he adjusted. A half-familiar warmth ran through her.

As abruptly as it had started, it ended. She kept her eyes closed for a moment. Then, as though from a distance, she heard: "What now?"

"I - I don't know," Glimmer said, looking back over at him. "I thought you would know."

"Well, okay, so," he stammered, "what are _you_ thinking?"

Gradually, it occurred to her: she expected wanting more, but she didn't. It seemed almost like a much-needed hug, even though she thought it would be something… more intense, perhaps? "That's a good question."

They looked at each other, picking up the exact same amount of confusion on one another's faces, and burst into laughter. Glimmer took the opportunity to wrap him up in a tight embrace. "What a mess," she giggled.

"Tell me about it," Bow mumbled. "You know, I meant what I said." He held her a little closer. "I love you."

"And I meant it, too," Glimmer replied, backing away a little. "And I thought the question was what that means, but…"

"Isn't it?"

She shrugged a little. The heat that had grown so strong in her cheeks had slowly faded away. "I'm not sure anymore. Maybe just… expect me to kiss you sometimes."

Bow laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "We'll work on it."

Glimmer reached up to draw him down into another kiss. Just to feel it out. Yes, there it was - a flicker of something. She paused and separated. "We should head back. We're about to land."

"We should," Bow murmured in agreement. He grinned. "How's your elbow?"

They'd slipped so casually back into their routine that Glimmer very nearly tried to teleport them to the deck. Instead she just stood and offered a hand. "I guess I should be more careful."

They returned to the deck, hand-in-hand, just in time to see a great silvery machine rise into view, a column like a tail extending from it far into the starry distance. It churned and opened, revealing a landing deck as though to invite them in. It had begun.

* * *

_Hey, Adora! Swift Wind here. You know, the only one who can contact you across the vast reaches of space and all that. At least, I hope that's how it works. We never really confirmed it._

_So, I've been doing an adventure, as you know, busting down stable doors across Etheria. I think I just about got 'em all. The wings helped. Turns out, though, that my people? Horses? Most of them can't talk. That makes organizing pretty difficult. Mostly what I've been doing is letting them graze around and keeping them safe from all the angry ranchers who come looking for them. Side note: not too many people are pleased with Swift Wind anymore._

_Anyway, things are kind of heating up outside the herd. King Micah - right, first things first, Hordak escaped. Pretty wild, right? They figure Entrapta did it 'cause she's the only one who liked him. King Micah is_ furious _about it. He's got most of Bright Moon and half of Mystacor looking for him. And so I headed over to help, obviously, and I was like "So why don't you magic him up in a crystal ball?" and he was like "Divination doesn't work on clones, you excellent winged unicorn friend," and I was like "I knew that," so I've been scouting the Whispering Woods for him in my free time. You can tell Micah thinks I'm a super big help._

_In the meantime, you know the clone city? We almost called it Clonia? Micah's taken a couple Sorcerer friends there and I guess they're starting to search for Hordak. Not a lot of news gets out of Clonia yet. (Okay,_ I _call it Clonia. Maybe I'm alone in this, but it's a great name.) I figure it's not going to be easy to find one clone in thirty thousand, so I've thought about going to help there, too._

_But… if I'm being honest, and I have to be honest - I'm not feeling it. Not just because I'm technically acting as a tool of bourgeoisie interests, but because, for some reason, it - it doesn't feel wrong that Hordak escaped. Maybe it's because exile is a little harsh. Maybe 'cause he's changed ever since you blasted Horde Prime out of him. I don't know._

_I could really use some She-Ra wisdom right now. Send me a soul mail when you get this. Over and out._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having a great time putting this series together and taking the themes of the original show in new directions. For fun, I've also drawn the S:CR Scorpia redesign and I've created a character sheet for Ordnance Commander Bella, which you can find below. Thanks for reading!
> 
> SCORPIA:  
> https://i.imgur.com/rFlVA94.png
> 
> BELLA:  
> https://i.imgur.com/KjDJUak.png


	7. CHAPTER IV: Junkyard Blues

As they prepared the ship for landing, Entrapta was a blur, hopping around the deck to run scans. "Contact, day one," she read into her recorder. "The spaceport is extremely sophisticated. Darla shows that the docking floor can open into six different sizes and has over two hundred different locking mechanisms. This suggests Isora is interconnected with other systems, despite its relative isolation."

Scorpia pointed beyond the spaceport down the long metallic cord connected to its back end. "Is that what we're looking for?" Beyond, attached to the other end of the cord, was a large piece of debris or perhaps a small asteroid, no larger than Bright Moon Castle. It glinted in the light of the yellow sun in the distance.

Entrapta stared in awe for a moment and clicked her recorder again. "Scorpia's discovered the Outpost, which appears to be built into a free-floating piece of space debris. It's connected to the spaceport through some sort of long-form mechanical cord. Perhaps an energy distribution system." She dashed around the deck, smacking a small device into everyone's ear. A small wire extended from each device to its owner's mouth. "I'm equipping the crew with transponders modified as universal translators, but the nature of Darla's crystal data means that the devices have to be within a mile of the ship to operate."

Catra hissed as Entrapta slapped the device into her ear. "Would you just hand them to us?"

Entrapta looked up from her recorder. "Huh?"

"If they only work within a mile of Darla, we'll probably be using her as our main transportation, right?" Adora asked, fiddling with the device in her ear.

Glimmer took out the transponder and looked it over. It was the same one they used to invade Horde Prime's ship. "That would be the plan anyway, right? Easy getaway vehicle."

"I - I hope we're not going to get into the kind of trouble that needs a getaway -" Adora stopped herself at Glimmer's flat stare. "Yeah, you're right."

"Darla, run auto-landing!" Entrapta cried, pointing triumphantly at the dashboard. The ship beeped and approached the spaceport, slowly lowering itself into the sizable boxlike construct.

"Shouldn't we be in restraints?" Bow asked, leaning cautiously onto the commander's chair.

"No, she's gentle. Look at how clever she is," Entrapta replied, running a loving hand along the dashboard. The ship touched the dock light as a kiss. "Also! I should mention, these are still communication devices. The button on the outside toggles transmission. Hurry! Come on! Everyone get your suits on!" She leapt over to the suit closet, practically vibrating with excitement.

Bow followed, gesturing to the others. "Promise me that you won't scream the first time we meet a native, okay, Entrapta?"

"No!"

The structure's walls cast a shadow over them as they slipped on their space suits, and with orange lights flashing, the spaceport closed around the ship. Glimmer frowned, the idea that this was a trap beginning to nag at her. "You know what?" she said, turning to Catra as she fit her helmet on. "Why don't you take Melog and hang out behind us, invisible? Just in case anything happens."

Catra smirked. "I can do that."

"You sure that wouldn't be starting off on the wrong foot?" Adora asked. "Sort of looks like we're spying."

"I mean, we are. What are they gonna do about it?" Catra put her fingers in her mouth and let out a harsh whistle. Almost immediately, Melog appeared beside her, panther-sized. She jumped.

"As soon as we know they're not going to kill us right away, Catra can show up again." Glimmer reached into the suit closet and removed Melog's, a stretchy glove-like suit with a particularly large helmet.

Melog meowed, and Catra translated: "She doesn't need a suit."

"She?" Glimmer almost dropped the suit. "Oh, no, I've been calling you an it for weeks. I'm sorry," she said, squatting down in front of Melog.

She chittered, and Catra laughed. "She thought it was funny."

* * *

Daeza whistled as she opened the airlock to the spaceport's main chamber. The blue-grey metal of the strangers' ship, the first ship Outpost C had seen in months, gleamed in the orange work lights. It was strangely angular, not unlike a Horde vehicle, but of an obviously different design. She had at one point been interested in such things. In fact, she was a Chief Engineer before the failure at Jovaska. But now, nothing more than a glorified page, she inhaled and prepared herself to welcome the aliens with a smile.

The back of the ship opened, revealing a vibrant, colorful interior, and a set of stairs leading to a crew of five - humanoids, at least, all wearing similar clear-faced helmets. Bella was right. They were children, if they aged similarly to local humanoids. She could only wave, as her own helmet was opaque.

As she did, one of them screamed and leapt forwards out of the ship, ambulating on her hair. _They're at least advanced enough to have body mods,_ she thought, preparing to defend herself. _I knew I should have grabbed a weapon._

But the stranger came to an abrupt halt right next to her, rotating around her on her prehensile pigtails. A somewhat digitized voice came through her helmet: "What sort of person are you? Log, record: our first contact with Isora involves another humanoid, much like the Horde and the Star Siblings. This has transcended coincidence and suggests either evolutionary narrowing or magical intent. Hey, can I study your anatomy?"

By the time Daeza had parsed what she was saying, the rest of the crew had approached. She noticed right away that one seemed particularly large, and was apparently armed. A bodyguard? "Entrapta. Didn't we talk about this?" said one of the members, likely a male - more masculine frame and voice.

"I intentionally did not make a promise!"

One of the other members approached, nudging the hair one out of the way. "Good to meet you," she said, extending a hand. "I'm Queen Glimmer. I assume you're Ordnance Commander Bella?"

 _Translators_ , Daeza thought. _Good_. "I am Private Daeza," she replied, taking Queen Glimmer by the elbow. "Welcome to Isora's Outpost C."

"Guys, the handshake," Queen Glimmer said with an edge of excitement, pointing and looking back at her crew. "Look, look! Don't forget to do this." She turned back. "The elbow, right? Do you do that for all handshakes?"

Daeza felt herself start to smile. "Yes, we do. Honored guests," she began, gesturing back to the hallway. "If you'd like to follow me to the Outpost?"

"Log, record," the long-haired one said. "Scratch the last theory. The cord is some sort of transportation."

"Indeed," Daeza replied, gesturing and heading into the hallway to activate the airlock. "This is our tether elevator. A bit crude as technology goes - our apologies."

" _Crude?!_ " Entrapta nearly shrieked. "Never! It's gorgeous!"

Daeza stalled with a dry chuckle. "Y-yes, I suppose so. Anyway, our native atmosphere is primarily oxygen. If yours is as well, do feel free to take off your helmets." She entered a command on a nearby module and the airlock closed with a hiss.

The crew began to cautiously remove their helmets. Air-breathers, evidently. So they _were_ quite similar to Isorai humanoids. Without their colored visors, she took note of the variety in their hair and skin. The blonde one took a moment to approach and offer her hand. "I figure we should introduce ourselves," she began, clearly pleased with herself as she and Daeza successfully took elbows. "I'm Adora, and here's Bow and Scorpia. You've already met Glimmer and…" She glanced around. "Entrapta?"

Entrapta popped up from behind the module. "I'm not touching it!"

While Adora groaned and stalked off to see what Entrapta was up to, the bodyguard - Scorpia - also approached. "Hi!" she began cheerily. "Like she said, I'm Scorpia. Probably can't do the handshake very well, but I can kick off our friendship with a pretty darn good hug."

Daeza removed her helmet, letting her skin breathe a little. "Perhaps later," she replied, restraining her reaction.

She felt them stare as she entered the code and opened the elevator door. "There's enough room for everyone," she said, turning and gesturing for the crew to enter first. They looked at one another and she frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, we -" Adora began.

"You look a lot like a group of people from our home," Glimmer interjected. "The Salineans."*

"Ah," she replied, gesturing again at the door. "That is interesting. But we can discuss this _on the elevator_."

Adora entered first, followed by the rest. There were clear strips of semiglass along both external walls which served as emergency viewports, and as soon as they entered, the crew began to crowd around them like windows. Their curiosity lent some credence to their claim that they had only recently left some sort of pocket dimension. "It looks pretty rough out there," Bow commented. "Do you have to go through this asteroid field every time you want to return to your planets?"

Daeza blinked, confused by his wording. Then, she laughed. "Bow, was it? Isora hasn't been a two-planet system for centuries."

Bow and Glimmer turned to one another. "Of course," he breathed. "Why didn't I think of it? Of course Darla's information is centuries out of date."

"What happened to the other planet?" Glimmer asked slowly, turning to face Daeza. Her expression was clear: she'd already guessed the answer.

"Well," Daeza said, stepping over to the viewport. "You're looking at it. Long before living memory, Horde Prime tore Neoma to pieces for an attempted rebellion."

As a piece of sunburnt rock floated between them and the sun, casting a shadow across the elevator, they fell into a somber stillness. "I didn't know," Bow said lowly. "I'm sorry."

Daeza smirked. "No reason to be sorry. Neoma's fate is illustrative of consequences." She paused, peering down at Queen Glimmer. "Are you alright?"

Glimmer wiped her eyes. "I knew Horde Prime destroyed worlds. I just never expected it to be so… clear. They just left the rubble of the planet in orbit." She turned to stare again out of the viewport, taking Bow's hand.

"What else were they going to do with it?" Daeza replied. _They truly are children_ , she thought. _Bella is going to chew them up and spit them out_.

Adora stepped forwards to place a hand on Glimmer's shoulder. "At least we never have to worry about it happening again. Horde Prime is gone."

For a moment, Daeza had almost forgotten their claim. And although they were very clearly inexperienced, even naive, they didn't seem like grifters. "I have a question," she began. "Were you… serious about having defeated Horde Prime?"

Bow pulled Adora into a side-hug. "Adora here can turn into a magical warrior woman. That's mostly what got the job done."

"Magic," Daeza intoned.

"What?"

"Magic is technology that a society does not understand."

Entrapta, who was examining the seams of the elevator, popped up behind her. "You'd be surprised. Magic is a complex entity. Do you want my notes on it?"

She frowned. "No, thank you."

"It doesn't require technology at all," Glimmer said, and drew a small sigil in the air with one finger. As she moved, she left behind a trail of glowing light, apparently sourceless, to form a geometric symbol. Then, a stream of bubbles appeared from the symbol's center. "Just training and hard work and a little talent."

She physically felt her professional facade slip away and gasped, taking a step back. "Are there dispensers built into your suit? Is this Horde-tier nanotechnology?" she asked, covering her mouth.

Glimmer giggled. "No, it's magic. Here, do you want to touch it?" she asked, holding out her hand. "It tickles."

Daeza glanced down at her hand and back up at her face. If they were liars, they were extremely proficient. Moreover, unless there was some grand illusion at work here, what she accomplished should not have been possible. What she did to their Centipede was explainable - antigravity, nanotechnology, plasma weaponry. But up close, it was simply… fantastical.

And on the other hand, she had her duties. "I... appreciate the offer, Queen Glimmer," she replied, returning to stand at attention next to the controls. That gnawing feeling of curiosity stayed contained in her gut and she trained herself on her assignment. "Perhaps later."

Scorpia leaned over and whispered to Glimmer: "She said that to me, too. I think she means 'no.'"

* * *

Ever since they decided to go, Bow had been on edge. Sure, he'd been to space, and in fact had spent a lot of time interested in space and talking to Entrapta about the details of space travel, but it was still basically an unknown. He didn't hesitate to join, of course. He simply spent a lot of his free time preparing and thinking about potentialities and worrying. But over the weeks, as no major space-related problems appeared, he grew more confident. The crew was competent. They had She-Ra. He had Glimmer. And it seemed like their success became more of a given every day they drew closer to their first destination.

And yet, as the elevator door opened to reveal a cavernous hall of metal surfaces and neat, asymmetrical architecture, that unease returned. Yes, they were competent. But there was no protocol. There would be no potential rescue. They were on a knife's edge.

"Welcome," they heard from the railing above them, to their right. There stood the only other person in the room, a tall, thin woman with no nose and a certain texture to her skin. Her greenish braids seemed stiff for hair, and her eyes were dark, nearly unreflective pupils set in goldenrod sclera. "I hope you had a comfortable journey."

Entrapta squeaked with glee and hopped forwards. Bow was just barely able to restrain her. "We have to talk about running towards people that we just met," he whispered.

"Ordnance Commander," Daeza said, standing at attention and saluting.

"Ah, Ordnance Commander Bella!" Glimmer said, stepping ahead of the group. "We talked on the transmission. Queen Glimmer," she added, gesturing. "And this is Bow, Adora, Scorpia, and Entrapta. We…" She paused. "You know, we never came up with an official name for the group," she whispered over to Adora.

"Best Friend Squad," Bow suggested, also leaning in and whispering.

"A little more professional than that."

" _Super_ Best Friend Squad."

"You must be exhausted from your journey. Not to mention hungry," Bella said, descending the stairs. She carried herself rigidly, but spoke with a jarring friendliness. "I've taken it upon myself to invite my team to a feast in your honor. After all, you are our first guests in several months." She approached, and Bow realized how tall she was - at least seven feet. Easily as tall as She-Ra, easily as tall as Scorpia.**

"Are you a tree?" Entrapta blurted, popping out of Bow's grasp.

Bella turned, still wearing a broad smile. Bow noticed her eyes sort of flicker. "I am a Driadian," she replied, bending over a little. "I'm not surprised that my kind is unfamiliar to you. We're rare and long-lived. I assume you have questions?"

"You have no idea," Entrapta replied, taking out her recorder.

They walked as Bella and Entrapta chatted, falling to the rear of the group. "See?" Scorpia said, patting Bow on the back. "I knew they were friendly. As long as we don't run into more space bugs, this should be pretty easy." When Bow didn't respond, Scorpia stepped forwards to walk alongside him. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," he replied, and glanced over. All of his friends tended to put up walls from time to time - Glimmer became stubborn, Adora became self-conscious, Catra… well. But not Scorpia. It would be surprising if she'd ever even lied. "Just a little worried about everyone."

He felt Glimmer take him by the waist and pull him into a sort of half-embrace. " _Someone's_ gotta be," she said.

"Hey, guys."

Glimmer and Bow leapt into combat mode as soon as they heard a disembodied voice whisper at them. She'd drawn a sigil in the air, his bow was off his back in seconds. "Woah, woah!" the voice continued, and they quickly recognized it as Catra. "I guess I'm the only one who's not on edge."

"Oh, hey, Catra," Scorpia stage-whispered. "I wanted to ask - are you just invisible, or can I poke you?" she added, reaching out a claw.

"Quit!" Catra exclaimed, still trying to keep her voice to a whisper. "That's my face!"

"What's the plan, Catra?" Glimmer asked, glancing back at the rest of the group in front of them and starting to walk again. "Everyone act natural."

"The plan is I'm going to scout around and find all their dirty secrets. Tell Adora. And tell her I'll be waiting for her. She'll know."

Bow frowned. "You know, you can report to the rest of us, too." He paused, waiting for a response and following Glimmer's example. He glanced behind him. "Catra?"

Glimmer chuckled. "It's probably a good idea to worry about us a little," she said quietly, taking Bow's hand again.

After a moment of walking, Scorpia visibly pieced together what had happened. "Wait, hold on," she said, turning. "Are you two… _together_ now?"

Bow and Glimmer shared a little grin. "It's complicated," he said.

"Ohh!" Scorpia cooed, and wrapped them up in a hug as she kept walking. "Now I know what you mean! My friends are in love…"

Glimmer snorted, and she and Bow looked at one another, breaking into laughter.

"What?" Scorpia looked down. "Too soon?"

Before they could respond, they'd arrived at a lengthy chamber with several exits. Above, the metallic ceiling opened into a semiglass viewport, just like Darla's. From this angle, they could only see the colorful cosmos beyond the Isora system, and it provided some natural light in the otherwise cold compound. In the center of the room was a long table covered in food on real plates and with real silverware, though the chairs were empty except for two. As Daeza took her seat on the opposite side of the table, Scorpia gently put Bow and Glimmer back on the floor.

Entrapta, still talking to Bella, took a seat absentmindedly next to Bella's near the head of the table. Glimmer and Adora glanced at one another and headed to sit down nearby, while Scorpia took the seat between Glimmer and one of the strangers. "Hey!" she began with an amicable smile. "I'm Scorpia."

In the meantime, Glimmer nudged Adora and cleared her throat. "So, first, thanks for being so hospitable. It's good to know our neighbors are, uh… neighborly. You said you need to ask us some questions?"

Bella turned to Glimmer and Entrapta quickly grabbed the smallest food available - a bowl of small, clear orbs - with her hair. "Of course, Queen Glimmer," Bella replied. "Please, in the meantime, eat. I'm sure our cuisine might be strange to you, but your friend Entrapta has found a favorite."

Glimmer looked down at what looked like some sort of organic netting, which was lightly steaming in the cool room. She chuckled nervously. "N-no, not strange at all."

"First," Bella said, "what is your intent here? A visit? Exploration? We would like to help you on your journey, given that it's peaceful."

"Yes, we - as you know, we fought off Horde Prime recently, and we realized there must be dozens or even hundreds of planets that were affected like ours." She gestured to Adora. "And Adora here is She-Ra, which… actually, I guess She-Ra isn't common knowledge."

Adora picked up some sort of fruit and tapped it. "How do I eat it?" she muttered.

Glimmer cleared her throat again. "Anyway," she stammered, "since She-Ra was able to bring magic back to Etheria, we figured it would only be right to help bring magic back to the rest of the universe, too. And your planet here…" She paused for a moment, remembering the rubble field. "Your planet scans as magical."

"Automa? Magical?"

"Have you all really not heard of magic even a little?" Glimmer asked, looking incredulously between Daeza and Bella and all the other crew members.

"Certainly, in myths and children's stories," Bella replied. "Some vague rumors, mostly fictions."

Bow watched the crew's expressions as Glimmer chuckled and demonstrated another spell - he didn't recognize it, but the sigil she drew began to glow and the room filled with the smell of lavender. The two crew members sitting at the table stood up reflexively, backing away. Bella didn't flinch. "No, it's okay," Glimmer said quickly. "This one's just called Perfume. All it does is smell nice."

Adora laughed, nudging Glimmer. "I think we're scaring them," she said under her breath.

"They have to learn how magic works eventually, if we're going to bring it back to their planet. Automa, right?" Glimmer asked Bella.

Bella's smile didn't fade. In fact, Bow saw her eyes sort of flicker again - not quite like a lizard's, but not entirely different. She stood to her full height, her back straight. "Automa is a world drowning in technology," she said. "I have lived a hundred and twenty-six years in Isora, and in that time, there has been no advancement nor regression. Automa has not changed for centuries." She walked around the table until she reached the short bespectacled man that Scorpia had been talking to. "Tyl here is practically more technology than person. His bones are inlaid with metal. His organs are partly synthetic. The same is true for many, if not all, Isorai people." She turned to Glimmer. "How exactly did you determine that Automa was ever magical?"

Entrapta, upon hearing the phrase 'more technology than person,' slunk over to Tyl, her visor down. "Bones inlaid with metal?" she whispered, and he startled.

"Oh," Glimmer replied. "Entrapta can detect magic and technology with her… uh, stuff. She's the expert there. I have no idea how any of it works."

"It's actually quite simple!" Entrapta said, raising herself on her hair to meet Bella's eyes and lifting her visor. "Magical energy is detectable with magitech, or arcanomechanics. I was able to rig a pretty simple observatory to detect magic in a sizable radius, and this system has a living magical entity, just like Etheria, somewhere in it. Chances are good that it's the planet you all live on!"

"I see," Bella replied. "And you mean to revitalize the magic in Automa?"

"That's the plan!" Glimmer replied brightly.

"Then it's decided," Bella replied, walking back to her seat. "Tomorrow, as soon as you've rested, I will accompany you to Automa myself. I have methods by which I can grant you an audience with our world leaders."

"We'll be taking our ship," Adora chimed in as Glimmer perked up. "Which means it'll take us another month to reach Automa, right?"

Bella chuckled. "Traditionally. Fortunately, we have short-range teleportation."

Entrapta had returned to examining Tyl, much to his silent dismay. "Yes, they've come up with a system-wide wormhole system. It's all based on their arcanolithine. Horde technology."

Adora frowned. "So you all are pretty directly ex-Horde, then," she said.

"Evidently," Bella replied, her voice sweet but obviously patronizing. "Our primary export is Horde energy crystals, which we call arkalite."

"To us, that's arcanolithine," Entrapta added, not looking up from Tyl. "It's magical. That level of energy production isn't possible with mundane materials. But they haven't harnessed it very well, which is why their Gauge 8 Phase Centipede wasn't able to remain cloaked for very long."

The table went silent. Glimmer glanced between Entrapta and Bella, and Adora scowled. "That creature was yours?"

"Oh, yeah, there was a whole maker's plate on the inside of one of the pieces," Entrapta added, unaware of the sudden tension in the room.

Bow kept his hands at the table, but prepared to draw his bow. And yet, Bella once more did not even falter. "War has not come to Isora in hundreds of years. Most of our combat machinery is loose in space. I would know better than most. I do, after all, personally oversee it all."

"You almost killed my friends," Adora said, her voice rising. She stood. "You almost killed us all. Come on, guys. We're leaving."

"You misunderstand," Bella replied. "These machines have been out of our control for hundreds of years. They cannot be remotely controlled. I'm sure your engineer has discovered this."

Adora turned, still tense. "Entrapta?"

"The creatures operate on a complex little neural network," Entrapta explained, finally leaving Tyl alone. "They appear to attack anything that moves, with a few built-in exceptions - Horde ships, native ships." She headed back to her seat and picked up the bowl with small orbs in it again. "I'm sure you _could_ control it remotely. I'd have to look at it more. But it's not designed for that. Its design is so much more…" She folded her legs on her seat, looking wistfully out the viewport. "... Chaotic."

Adora and Glimmer shared a look, and she folded her arms, saying nothing.

"Sorry," Glimmer said hurriedly, tugging Adora's sleeve to get her to sit back down. "That thing really messed up our shields, and we've been a little anxious ever since. If your teleporter thing can help us avoid any more of them, that would be a big help."

Bella's smile grew slightly. "It would be my pleasure. This prospect of magic excites me greatly. We can discuss more details in the morning, but for tonight, I believe I have the answers I require."

"So, uh," Scorpia volunteered after a solid few seconds of silence. "I heard you guys have people with claws?"

And as they hurried back into normal conversation, Bow felt the grip of that worry tighten on him again. A flickering part of him wanted to wrap everyone up in his arms and carry them back to the ship and head home and leave all this behind. But something strong welled up in him as though in response to that doubt. These people need their magic back even more than Etheria did, and they would do their best.

* * *

Catra padded through the cool hallways of the Outpost. It was empty, quiet - completely still. It reminded her of that first night at Bright Moon, and that familiar yearning moved through her.

 _You're doing it again,_ Melog purred.

"Shh. We're spying," Catra whispered.

_Any creature with senses beyond simple sight and sound can tell. If you're trying to spy, you could be doing far more to suppress your presence._

"I doubt these people have extra bonus senses like you do. You saw how the one woman reacted to magic." She chuckled. "You'd probably give them a heart attack." She peered around a corner, taking note of the doors and lights. The place was a labyrinth of sameness, but to their right, all of a sudden, the hallway spun downwards as though into a pit. "What's this?"

Melog followed along at her most comfortable size, taking up a decent section of the corridor. _I don't wish to be misinterpreted,_ she meowed. _I don't mind it at all. It's like a warm breeze - pleasant. But if you can't keep your heart rate steady, there are many creatures that can detect you, even with my magic._

Catra had already advanced to the pit and placed a hand inside it. Her hand immediately fell to the side of the pit that was congruent to the floor. She edged forwards and found that the pit was just like a vertical hallway, complete with more rooms at the opposite end. "Strange," she murmured. Melog's statement dawned on her in a moment and she flushed, whipping around. "Don't be weird about it!"

_Am I wrong? Is it not pleasant?_

"Yes! No! Ugh," Catra groaned, reaching further into the pit. It felt as though she was crawling along the ground, and tentatively placed her feet over the side of the pit as well, then stood. The gravity had completely shifted, and she was now standing on the side of the pit exactly as though it was simply another hallway. But this hardly registered. "It's not _for_ you, okay? Sometimes I don't _want_ you to read my feelings."

 _I understand,_ Melog chittered. _I remember many peoples like you. They were all quite sensitive about their privacy._

"Yes, we are," Catra whispered hotly. She hesitated for a moment, coming to a stop. "Is it… that you _know_ what I feel? Like seeing or hearing? Or is it that you _feel_ what I feel?"

 _That's a complicated question,_ Melog meowed. _And one with no real answer, unfortunately._

"Then when I'm thinking about Adora," she whispered, "do me a favor and just ignore me." Over their whispering, she heard a breathing behind one of the nearby doors, and reflexively crouched down. The breathing was heavy and strained. "You hear that?"

 _There is a man in this room,_ Melog replied, nudging one of the doors with her nose.

Catra stood and examined the slot next to the door. "It needs a keycard," she murmured. "You can phase us in, right?"

_Of course. If you're sure this is a good idea._

"Good ideas are for cowards. Let's go."

They moved through the steel door, something Melog had informed her took some energy to do.*** Worse, it was slow and felt sort of like passing through mercury. But as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, she saw him - a man wearing a uniform like the rest of the Outpost's crew, standing completely still, staring at the corner between the door and the wall. He seemed relatively normal - his hair was a sweep of orange and he wore a small goatee - but one of his eyes was strange, as though technological rather than organic.

She paced around him, examining him. He looked almost like a statue, but his fingertips were shaking slightly and his neck was taut. His breathing was shallow and she heard him softly groaning. It looked as though he was being held in place.

The room was small and sparse, clean down to the smallest detail. It looked sort of like a garden with nothing in it; there was a bed of soil and some sort of clear pipes connected to it, but no bed, no storage, nothing else except a desk and a large mirror. In fact, the room seemed to serve no purpose at all. Perhaps it was just a confusing holding cell.

He groaned again, drawing her attention back to him. Something turned in her stomach as she watched. He was clearly in pain, though Catra couldn't tell how. She reached out, unsure of what to do, and something in the back of her mind reminded her: if she interfered, the crew would know she was there. And yet… should she just move him? Should she try to lay him down?

Suddenly, she leapt back as he moved, falling to his knees. Then, with great effort, he rose to his feet, breathing heavily, gingerly touching his ear and the side of his face. After a moment, he turned around.

For a moment, she thought he was staring directly at her, and a jolt of energy shot through her. She prepared her claws. But he glanced around the room, pushing a hand through his hair and heading for the door.

As he opened it, she slipped out behind him, just barely avoiding making contact with his legs, and prepared to follow him. He stumbled for a moment and headed back in the direction Catra came from, heading effortlessly out of the vertical hallway.

She fell back to whisper to Melog: "What was that all about? That's a crew member, right?"

 _He was in some pain,_ Melog rumbled. An empathetic sorrow fell over her face. _Mostly discomfort. And on top of it all, spite._

Catra peered at him as he turned a corner and hurried along silently. Momentarily, he led her down the hallway that the tall woman had led the rest of the crew, and they emerged into a long dining hall. There, around a sizable table, made of the same polished metal as the rest of the Outpost, were the rest of the crew. Scorpia seemed to be hitting it off with the aliens, Glimmer unsurely picked at some cubelike food, and Adora seemed positively grumpy.

She watched as the man made his way, straining, to an empty chair apart from anyone else. "Lancer," she heard the commander woman say. "A touch late, as usual."

He shot her a glance as he sat and saluted. "Ordnance Commander." Catra picked up on the tone immediately. It's one she had taken often before, back in the Horde. She felt a sinking in her stomach and a rumbling anger as she stared at the tall woman, trying to parse her expression. But her face was like a mask.

She huffed quietly and stepped into the room, glancing down at Melog. Even as just an outline, she could see that Melog had picked up on that anger. Her mane had grown jagged. Catra reached out to pet her carefully and watched as the table continued to talk among themselves. "Hi!" Scorpia introduced herself cheerfully to the man. "I'm Scorpia!"

Then, as though to distract herself, she got a mischievous little idea. She glanced down at Melog, who she could tell knew exactly what she was planning, then stood and padded silently over to Adora.

For a second, she leaned down to breathe on her neck, just to alert her she was there, and then, so quiet she could hardly hear herself: "Hey, Adora."

Adora's lips tightened and she tried not to react, jabbing a small brownish roll on her plate with a fork.

"You remember our agreement?" she continued, hidden by the rest of the conversation around the table. She leaned down a little and kissed Adora's neck. "Expect a full report tonight."

Adora almost choked on her fork as Catra's lips tickled her ear. She coughed and swung backwards, her elbow catching Catra right in the sternum.

Catra just barely caught herself from falling over and slapped a hand over her mouth to stop from crying out - and then to stop from laughing. She leaned back in. "Mean," she whispered, drawing a claw along her cheek. She snickered. "Alright, I'll stop. See you later."

Adora turned around, staring for a second in her general direction. She was obviously annoyed, but in the adorable, blushing sort of way.

"Adora?" Glimmer asked.

"It's nothing," Adora replied, pointedly, and turned back towards the feast.

Catra smirked and headed back to sit down near the doorway. As Melog shrunk slightly to sit in her lap, she let herself stare up at Adora. Her beautiful, heroic fool. She thought then - _knew_ then - that the feeling would never fade, and Melog rolled onto her back, basking in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * **_Aquarians._** Not all citizens of Salineas are gilled like Isorai Aquarians, but the resemblance is otherwise striking.
> 
> ** **_Large Women._** The show is full of them. From comparison and using average heights, I've determined that She-Ra is somewhere between 6'9" and 7' - nowhere near the hyperbolic eight feet some characters have called her. In s2e4, we see Scorpia is, in fact, taller than She-Ra, which makes sense, because she tends to be 12"-18" taller than other characters.
> 
> *** **_New Ability._** This is not canonical but does not conflict with canon. There is no situation in which Melog could have phased through something to solve a situation and didn't.
> 
> Thanks again for keeping up with S:CR! With my spare time (something I've had a lot of recently) I've created a character sheet for Lancer, which you can find below. This fandom has gotten me back into both writing and art. It's pretty great.
> 
> https://i.imgur.com/SedSJbH.png


	8. CHAPTER V: Tense

Everything was already falling into place. They were deliciously gullible, deeply sentimental, prone to earnest overreaction - all things she could utilize. Over the course of their dinner conversation, she'd already picked up on a handful of important details: for example, their "magic" exhausted them. They arrived in Isora on the only ship their planet had seen in a thousand years. Most interestingly, their home, Etheria, was very close.

After she had worked some more detail out of them, she decided which were valuable. Queen Glimmer could act as a useful hostage, and Adora, her initial focus, would be excellent as either a weapon or a power source. She must simply be made to see reason. The others were disposable. As dinner ended, she instructed Daeza to show them to their rooms and retired to her own quarters.

As the overhead light flickered on, she stored Tyl's remote and pressed a small, hidden button beneath her mirror. A lime green holo-screen appeared over it, fizzling with static. "Contact Defect," she commanded, carefully removing her harness and gloves.

RELAYING… COMPLETE. The screen flashed for a moment and Defect's face appeared in the static. "Bella!" he cried, his voice rough and worn but still unfortunately familiar.

Bella did not respond for a moment and proceeded to disrobe, placing a finger gently into her soil. The metallic taste spread through her. And to think tomorrow she might feel native Automa soil. She finally turned. "I need some information."

"I figured. Boy, has there been a _lot_ going on. The Firewall is really tightening lately with -"

"Focus," Bella snapped, then carefully lay down in her soil bed. "Any talk of magic?"

Defect laughed that cool, cold laugh. Some things never left an abandoned Horde clone. "Magic? You haven't got termites, have you?"

"That's your second strike, Defect. Watch your tongue."

"No magic," Defect replied, sobering. "Though you remember about two weeks ago when a ship broke out of the Prime Ship's defenses? Apparently that really kicked off a movement. Bots falling left and right, clones losing their minds across the whole galaxy."

She frowned. "Clones losing their minds?"

"Whole armadas abandoned. Some right in the middle of an attack. One armada kept going with their assault, but they were all screaming the whole time, apparently. Prime must be going soft."

She clenched her teeth. The possibility that this was coincidence had begun to shrink even more. Surely this couldn't be the end of the Horde. But even if they were only experiencing a momentary setback, this could provide an opportunity. "Have you heard news of Etheria? Any planet that recently appeared as though out of nowhere."

"The rogue planet," Defect responded. "You bet I have. That thing's making news across the whole galaxy, at least in every half-civilized system." He laughed as though surprised - not an uncommon tic for him. "They say it doesn't have a sun!* No one can figure out what's up with it. What did you call it?"

"It's unimportant," Bella muttered. This was becoming a tangle. She felt a smile creep across her lips. Finally, an interesting challenge. "Condense my accounts. I want at least six million marks in my access account by morning."

He laughed again. "That's a lot."

"I didn't ask for your input. I asked you to move my money. Do it." Briefly, she recalled when six million marks was nothing, and quickly changed the subject. "News on the Infrastructure General."

Defect snickered. "One sec," he said, and the image of a news headline with a photograph of a taller, broader Driadian appeared. He was wearing his special occasions suit, bright white and well-fitted, and was taking the elbow of an Aquarian she didn't recognize. "Looks like he's captained a trade deal with the Jellar Republic. And, no, he still hasn't publicly mentioned Jovaska since -"

"End call." As the holo-screen vanished and the room grew dark, she placed a hand over her eyes, feeling them begin to strain and dilate. "Take note," she said, and the holo-screen hummed and reappeared. "Have one of Defect's remaining fingers delivered to me for his insolence."

There was something obscene about how the memory affected her. At over a hundred years of age, well outside of the lifespan of lesser humanoids, she was still young. There was time to claw her way back up, despite the setback Jovaska caused. And yet it weighed on her daily, constantly pressing at the back of her mind. There was no excuse to keep up with the doings of Infrastructure General Abram, and yet she felt compelled to at every opportunity. "Take note," she said, meditating upon it for a moment. "Block all instances of Infrastructure General Abram."

"Confirm:" read the monotone voice of the computer. "Block text and images of Infrastructure General Abram?"

"Yes," she snapped. "When I tell you to do something, you do it. I own you. And transmit audio to Lieutenant Commander Lancer's quarters." She inhaled to steady herself, pressing a palm into her soil bed. "Attention, Lieutenant Commander. I have a job for you."

* * *

After dinner, Adora was doubly distracted. On one hand, complete distrust. This situation was far too suspicious for her to let her guard down even for a moment. Ultimately, her misgivings about Bella may not matter as soon as they reached the planet and got to work, and Bella's teleportation would help them accomplish this. But there was also something reckless about Glimmer's immediate and total and confident acceptance.

Then, on the other hand, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Catra would be waiting for her as soon as they'd finished their conversation around the dinner table. It took real mental fortitude to keep from making an excuse and leaving.

As soon as it ended, and as soon as Daeza offered them each a keycard and gave them directions, Adora was gone. She was split between checking her blind spots and hurrying through the labyrinthine hallways of the Outpost. A right past the canteen, then a left, then a right, and the first door on the left, and in her rush, she dropped the keycard twice trying to open the door.

Finally, it slid open to reveal a small room, all its surfaces metallic except the bed. A dim orange light flickered on above, and the steel floor and walls took on a soft glow. She entered carefully. "Catra?" she whispered. The door slid shut behind her with a gentle rumbling and, for a moment, she stayed still. "It's been a long day, okay? Don't tease me."

Her heart rattled away as she stepped further into the room. Then, from behind her, near the door, she saw her out of the corner of her eye - like by magic, she was there, her space suit still on, her helmet carried casually under her arm, and Adora stepped over without hesitation, before she could even begin her smug little greeting, and pulled her into a close, full-body kiss.

"Wow," Catra purred. "Welcome back."

"Why are you talking," Adora murmured, running her hand along her jaw to the back of her neck and guiding her into another kiss. Catra fell into it, reaching up to carefully drag the tie from Adora's ponytail and drawing a hand gently through her hair as it fell to her back. Every touch drove a new red-hot nail into her chest. For years, the thought was nearby, but obscured, like she could only experience it through a veil. For years, she wouldn't let herself lift the veil and explore.

She reached down and picked up Catra, walking her over to the bed. "You really want to showboat right now?" Catra asked, moving to her neck as they lay down.

"What do you mean?"

Catra helped her pull off her jacket and fiddled with removing her own space suit. "You're just gonna manhandle me like that, no sweat," Catra replied with a sly little smile.

"Are you kidding? I've always been able to pick you up." She tossed Catra's space suit aside. "Wanna see what else I can do?"

Catra's slight blush grew suddenly to cover her face. "You're learning how to flirt."

She laughed, pushing her hair back. "It seems like a pretty good skill to have, right? You know," she added, pinning one of her arms down, "since my girlfriend is so flirty." She felt herself break into a broad smile as Catra's eyes widened. They hadn't used the word yet.

"Adora," Catra began, the word catching in her throat. Adora realized with some surprise that tears had risen to the corners of Catra's eyes. "I love you so much."

She felt her own eyes burn, and the impatience and intoxication fell away in pieces. Every time she said it, it tore her to bits. It reminded her again that the veil had been lifted, had been crumpled up and thrown away. Before she could respond, she felt herself move into another kiss. Catra tensed and placed her free hand on her back.

Then, all of a sudden, Catra gasped in pain and it flung Adora out of her euphoria. "Arm!"

"Oh!" she exclaimed, quickly sitting up. As her eyes opened, a bright light illuminated the metallic walls and she fell backwards in shock. Unprompted, she was She-Ra.

Catra scrambled back against the wall, too. "What?! -"

She quickly regained control and reverted, staring down at her hands as they returned to their normal size. "I - I have no idea what _that_ was all about," she stammered, pushing her hair back with a goofy laugh.

Their eyes met again and they were hit by the same realization. This had happened once before.

After a few silent seconds, that frenzy had built up again. Catra leapt onto her and pushed her back to the bed. "You didn't have to un-transform so fast," she whispered.

"You _know_ that's not what she's for."

"Just for a minute."

* * *

It felt like an hour afterwards that they spent awake. Catra had tucked her head into the nook between Adora's neck and shoulder, and Adora wordlessly felt her breathing and purring as the minutes ticked by.

Eventually, Catra shifted. "You were right," she murmured. "I talked to Scorpia."

"Mm?"

"It's… a start." She pulled Adora a little closer, and Adora felt her hesitate to speak. "Did… do you think that… never mind."

She sat up a little, leaning on an elbow. "I don't want to have to keep reminding you that you can talk to me," she said, keeping her voice little more than a whisper.

Catra looked up at her. "Yeah, I - I know. I just don't know how to say it."

"Take your time," Adora replied, running a hand down her shoulder, lazily counting her stripes.

They settled again into silence for a few moments and Catra tucked her head beneath Adora's neck again. "Do you think that Bow and Glimmer… really want to be my friends?"

Adora snorted with laughter. "What? Of course they do. They _are_ your friends."

"No, don't laugh. I mean it."

"Sorry, sorry," Adora rushed. "I just thought it was… sort of obvious. Love it or hate it, you can be a lot of fun to be around."

Catra leaned back with a small, somber smile. But it fell away. "... I want to talk to Glimmer."

She sighed a little and reached up to caress her cheek. "I know," she replied quietly. "You really sprung the Hordak thing on me. But you'd been thinking about it for a while, huh?"

"I wish everyone would stop trying to _read_ me," Catra said, scowling. "If it's not Melog, it's you. And I bet if I try to talk to Bow and Glimmer about _anything_ , they'll just do it, too."

"Well," Adora chuckled, "we want to get to know you."

"You could ask." Catra turned to lay on her back and rested the back of her hand over her eyes. "... Of course I was thinking about it. I was thinking about it ever since I joined up with you guys. I mean, it was already hard for her to forgive me for _less_. And…" She inhaled deeply. "And I get that. But I need to do _something_."

Adora sighed. On one hand, she'd seen how sensitive the subject still made Glimmer after years. At times, she'd frightened her. On the other hand, Glimmer certainly had more love for Catra than Hordak. Maybe that would help. But it was a coin toss, and it could hurt more than help. "I don't know," she said eventually. "I'm sorry. I have to think about it more."

Catra didn't respond. She was still visibly tense.

"... Twelve." Adora rested a hand on her stomach. "You still haven't grown a single extra stripe since we were kids."

"What are you talking about?" Catra groaned. "I know how many stripes I have."

"My favorite part about you is your stripes," Adora whispered. "Then your freckles."

Catra looked over, unsmiling, some color rising to her cheeks.

"What's your favorite part about me?"

She shifted to her side to face Adora. It seemed like her worry was holding her back, something Adora had seen only rarely. But slowly, her normal confidence returned as a grin tugged at the corners of her mouth. "... Your eyes."

Her smile was contagious. Adora pulled her into another close embrace, and until they fell asleep, they spoke only in body language.

* * *

_It is the first time anyone has ever given her a bath. In place of memory, there are only snippets of sounds and feelings. Someone is trying to hold her in the water, and she has completely lost the ability to speak in her panic. Soap is stinging her eyes and the water is constricting. Loud shouts as she digs her claws into something. Footsteps._

_She is crying by the time she feels small, warm hands on her shoulders. The spasming in her chest begins to weaken and fade as she recognizes her. But the water comes up to her belly again and the panic returns. And yet those hands remain._

_In her inexperienced mind, years are passing. Then, those hands are joined by two large, cold hands, each one the size of her head. Her tears begin to slow and she curls up at the edge of the basin. In place of memory, Adora's voice - "I love you, too."_

The dream fell away as she felt Adora shift next to her. "What?" she muttered, still mostly asleep.

"Do you smell that?"

"What?" she repeated, opening her eyes and looking around at the dark little room. "No."

"That's not a fire, is it?" Adora stepped over her and onto the floor.

Catra sat up. "A fire?" She sniffed the air. "Adora, I don't smell anything. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's -" Adora walked over to the grate on the wall. "It's so strong. It's like nuts, almost? Do you really not smell that? It woke me up."

Catra rubbed her eyes and chuckled. "You sure you weren't dreaming?"

She didn't respond. She felt the metal wall, touched the floor, and kneeled next to the sliding door. "Yeah, see, it's right…"

When she collapsed, it was almost like it happened in slow motion. Catra woke instantly, her fur standing up all the way down her back. She leapt over to her, the horrifying possibilities running through her head, and then she smelled it. It was coming from under the door.

She pulled Adora up and moved her back to the bed, took a deep breath, and headed back towards the door. She felt her claws lengthening instinctively.

When it opened, there was a figure standing there in a helmet, a man, holding some sort of gas canister in one hand and a pistol in the other. He was ready for her. She was ready, too.

Before he could fire, she leapt on him and knocked him against the back of the hallway. He was able to keep control of the gun, but Catra forced his arm against the wall, tremendous strength flowing through her. She'd lost the ability to speak.

With a pivot, he flung the gas canister against the side of her head, knocking her to the ground. As she struggled to regain control of her breathing, he quickly flipped his pistol around and struck her where her skull met her spine. A takedown. She knew it well. It sent her vision swimming and fading.

As her head pulsed, that strength poured into her again, and she kicked out a foot. It caught the man's ankle and he shouted, slamming the canister against the wall. Without hesitation, she was back on him, using his own momentum to throw him to the ground. His helmet hit the metal with a resounding crack and Catra, as her vision returned to her, saw that his glass visor had cracked. She also looked down and noticed she was invisible.

"Good job, Melog," she managed, hopping to her feet as the man struggled to stand.

_I could tell you needed some help,_ Melog chittered, and stalked silently up alongside Catra, her mane sharp.

She walked over and delivered a solid kick to his ribs to keep him down, then reached down and tore off his helmet. The shock of orange hair surprised her. It was him.

The man reached for his pistol. He began to mutter something, but Catra had already taken her transponder out. Before he could finish his sentence, she drove her open hand into his neck, knocking him to the floor, unconscious. All of a sudden, everything came to her in waves: the way he looked at the commander woman, the pain he was in, this. Bella was behind it all.

Then, she heard a sharp whisper - "Catra?" - and whipped around to face it, her hands already up defensively. It was Bow, wearing only boxers and a cutoff undershirt, his weapon pointed at the man on the ground. "Are you there?"

"Yeah," she whispered back. "I got him. He was trying to… Adora," she realized, and dashed back into the room. Adora was lying on the bed, deathly still. Her heart jumped into her throat as she hurried over and pressed her fingers against Adora's neck. There, a calm, steady heartbeat. As the paralyzing dread vanished, she felt herself whine as though in pain herself. "You're alright," she said, her breathing gradually steadying. She pressed Adora's head to her chest. "You're fine."

"What happened?" Bow asked, heading to the doorway. He gasped and turned around. "Agh, not again. I'm so sorry."

Catra pulled the thin sheet over Adora and stood, picking her blouse up from the ground. "This guy was spraying something into the room. Adora, in her infinite wisdom, tried to smell it out and got a faceful of it. She's just unconscious," she added.

"Lancer?" Bow murmured, squatting down next to him. "This is serious. He's part of the crew here. I _knew_ there was something off. I _knew_ it."

"You might want to tie him up," Catra said, fully dressed. She phased back into visibility. "He's not going to stay that way for long."

* * *

The cat had bruised one of his ribs. If he hadn't gotten the titanium plating on his floaters, she would have easily broken one. Rather than respond to their initial questions, he mulled over the situation. There was a chance Bella knew that the cat would be in the blonde girl's room. In which case, she knew it was possible that there would be witnesses. She intentionally didn't share her intentions with him, so if she was planning to kidnap or kill the girl, she would have known the crew would make a fuss. So even if she didn't expect the cat - considering the cat wasn't at dinner - it was possible she was expecting this sort of fallout anyway.

They dragged him to the canteen, a strange sort of pinkish energy constricting his arms behind his back the whole way there. He tried to subtly cut it with the razor in his left thumb, but it did nothing. Fortunately, none of them noticed. They were too busy being angry at him. The cat even scratched his face right where his old scars were.

After a few minutes, they'd managed to summon the Outpost crew, who stood at attention as Bella entered. He kept his head down, but he could already read her demeanor. Bella had one major strength, and that was acting. She came off as worried, gravely serious, and apologetic. The first thing she said when she entered the room: "What's happened?" in a tone that she could never use earnestly.

"What's _happened_ is that one of your crew tried to poison Adora," the short, pink-haired girl cried. That was the one who created the strange bindings he found himself in. Like he figured - they were more powerful than they let on.

"Not poison. He tried to knock her out," the cat added. The big one had been carrying the blonde girl, presumably because they didn't want her left alone in her room. The cat had stayed very close as they made their way to the canteen. "That's _worse._ What were you planning to do with her?"

"These were not my orders," Bella replied quickly, feigning an incredible, detailed blend of offense and concern. "Lieutenant Commander Lancer has acted on his own."

"Yeah, I bet," the cat said. "You know what I found out? I found out that you were _torturing_ him. That's right. I found him in your room, with the dirt, and you did something to him."

He barely suppressed a smile. What a clever creature. So he _had_ sensed a presence in Bella's chambers. "What?" the pink-haired one said. "Are you serious?"

"Just before dinner." The cat approached Bella with the demeanor of an aggravated teenager. "I don't know what your game is, but we're _not_ playing it."

"Please," Bella began. That one must have been difficult. "I should explain. Lieutenant Commander Lancer experiences errors in his body modifications. Every so often, he requires a reset. It's painful, but it's necessary to keep him from completely shutting down. I allow him to do this in the privacy of my locked chambers."

The cat took a hesitant step back. "But…" Again, he had to suppress a smirk. These aliens were playing with bows and arrows against lightning.

"And Lieutenant Commander!" Bella exclaimed, turning to him with uncharacteristic passion. "This is an egregious breach of trust, and a high crime! Honored guests, please allow me to rectify this situation. If you would like, I can have him arrested as soon as we reach Automa."

"Stop," shouted the pink-haired one with surprising authority. "Lieutenant Commander Lancer. Is this true? Do you need to... reset every so often?"

He lifted his head and looked up at the two of them, one to his right, one to his left. He saw the subtlest smile playing at the corners of Bella's mouth. "Yes," he murmured. "It's true."

The cat, in the meantime, had slunk back to stand next to the big one, staring up at the blonde girl's unconscious face. He couldn't tell yet if she was a pet or in love. Perhaps both.

"Explain yourself," the pink-haired one said, drawing his attention back.

He thought for a moment, the various possibilities churning away in his mind. Then, it clicked. _You brilliant woman,_ he thought. _It's a test._ He bowed his head. "I beg your mercy," he said lowly. "For years, I have tried to prove myself here. I am not native to this system. I thought, perhaps, that if I brought the Ordnance Commander the… most powerful among you, that I could be seen as worthy."

"And you were fine with, what, selling Adora into slavery? Using her as a hostage? What?" the pink-haired one demanded.

"No, of course not," Lancer replied, glancing over to Bella. "The Ordnance Commander would never do that. The gas would keep your friend asleep until morning and… I thought perhaps the Ordnance Commander would like to take samples of her hair or fingernails to study. Perhaps learn about the power she has." He felt himself rambling, putting together an entire mythos around the few facts he had available to him.

And yet, the pink-haired girl took a step back, as though considering it. He felt a tension that he didn't know he was carrying release and he lowered his head again.

"This is an incredible violation of the rights of our guests," Bella said, standing again to her full heights. "I cannot allow you to continue in your position because of this crime. You will come with us to Automa, where you will be tried."

He cast a glance towards the girl, summoning the same sort of worry and concern that Bella had. Already, Bella's plan was shaping up well; as always, she had placed her pieces well in advance. "Wait," she said, looking back at the rest of their crew. The one with the long hair was mostly asleep, the big one looked on with obvious apprehension, the strangely-dressed archer was scowling, and the cat had her arms folded, staring directly at Lancer. "Adora is okay, right?"

"She'll wake up by morning," Lancer muttered in reply.

"I don't care," the cat snapped, stepping forwards. "Obviously we can't trust him, and probably not the rest of them, either."

"I acted alone," Lancer declared again.

"Why should we believe you? The tree lady probably told you to say that!"

Without even looking, he could feel Bella bristle at that. "Hey," the pink-haired one said. "That's a little paranoid, Catra."

"Is it? Do you really not feel that this doesn't add up?"

"It's weird, okay?" she cried. "It's very weird! But we have one goal, and that is to get to the planet and help it! If Bella can help, then… we might need it." She turned again to Lancer and Bella. "We don't have to trust one another. We can set up watches when we sleep. And if we get ourselves into trouble… well, we were expecting that anyway, weren't we?"

"Believe me," Bella said, bowing. "I will do my best to regain your trust. I understand it must be difficult meeting a civilization like ours for the first time."

The archer stepped up to the table. "As soon as we get to the planet, as soon as we meet with the leaders - we'll be looking for clues and we don't have to deal with this anymore." He put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "That being said, what Lancer did was dangerous. If you're going to bring him back to Automa to be arrested, he needs to be restrained."

Bella leaned over him, her eyes emotionless and blank. "Lieutenant Commander Lancer, you are relieved of your position and your duties."

He bowed his head. "This was a serious lapse in judgement, and I apologize to everyone involved." Like her, he would perform. After all, in a few days, he wouldn't need to be the Lieutenant Commander of anything. He would be Bella's advisor, her fall guy - a familiar position for him. And then, maybe a few more years of that before he would finally have the resources to leave this horrible broken star system and begin his search in earnest.

Daeza and Eluda forced him to his feet and led him to their one solitary confinement cell. He glanced at the newcomers as he left, all scowls and confusion. One more set of necks he must step on to free himself. So be it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * **_The Moonsun._** According to word of god (author-confirmed non-canon), Etheria is lit by its magical moons and requires no sun.
> 
> I've officially reached 100 subscribers, and I'm very close to reaching 100 comments! This is extremely exciting, so just for fun, I've created a discord server for this update! There, I'll post official art (including doodles), chapter previews, and fanart (and, of course, you can add your own). You can find the joinlink in the story's description, and it's here also:
> 
> https://discord.gg/Ya2fz8F
> 
> Thanks again for keeping up with the fic! It makes me very glad that I can share this with an interested community!


	9. CHAPTER VI: Red-Eye Flight

It had been a rough morning. This was fine for Scorpia, who was used to it - drills, announcements, accidental explosions. But as Glimmer herded everyone onto the ship the next morning, she was still visibly frazzled. "One moment, please," she'd said to Bella, physically restraining her voice. "I have to talk to my crew in private."

Of course, when everyone told Adora what happened the next morning, she freaked out. Catra didn't help. If anything, her freaking out aggravated Adora's freaking out, and then it became this vicious cycle until Glimmer had to yell at them. But finally, she managed to wrangle them into a calm, awake meeting. As the airstairs closed, she turned to them with her serious face on. "Okay," she said, her tone measured. "We're gonna discuss this like civilized adults. No shouting, we listen to each other, all that good stuff. Alright?"

Catra was standing almost defensively in front of Adora, who was leaning on the commander's chair, scowling and thinking with her arms folded. Neither of them said anything.

"Adora, you can go first."

Adora stepped forwards, primed to speak, but controlled herself at the last second. "Alright," she began. "We need to take the long way. We'll deal with Automa on our own schedule. It's safer than letting Bella accompany us, especially with that guy."

Glimmer waited.

"Listen," Adora continued, "Bella has only _claimed_ that she knows people. Right? I can use She-Ra to attract some attention, and then _we_ can know people instead. We don't need a middleman." She turned. "Catra?"

"I'm done trusting people like her," Catra said, spitting the words out. Scorpia felt the anger like a burst of electricity. "And I can't believe you're falling for it."

"Catra," Glimmer said, putting her hands together in front of her face. She hummed a little. "I explained that I do _not_ trust anyone here. Too many suspicious things have happened in the last day for me to jump into this blind. _However_. Imagine for a second that aliens come to Etheria. They ignore the people they make first contact with, demand an audience with all of the Princesses, and say they found something inside our planet and want to take it out. How would you respond?"

Scorpia turned back to Catra, unsure of exactly what to do with her claws. Rather than replying, Catra simply narrowed her eyes.

"Now imagine that they were friendly with the first people they met, and those people led them to us instead. You'd be willing to listen to them more, right?" Glimmer put her hands on her hips. "What I'm saying is that this may not be necessary, but it's the path of least resistance. If we don't want to rock the boat and, you know, accidentally declare war or something, we need someone who knows the planet. Even if she has bad intentions."

"What if she lies to the leaders?" Catra interjected. "What if she tells them we're here to declare war anyway, so they can arrest us and we leave Etheria unprotected?"

"That's where we rely on She-Ra," Glimmer replied, gesturing to Adora. "You saw her _destroy Horde Prime's soul_ too, right?"

"That's - that's not what happened -" Adora said quickly, waving her hands.

"But what I mean is that if something goes wrong, you know…" She glanced around at the rest of the crew. "We're the Best Friend Squad. The _Super_ Best Friend Squad. If we want to save this planet and stay out of danger at the same time, we have to at least be nice to the people here." She lowered her voice a little. "You know, maybe the reason Bella comes off the way she does is because we don't know the local customs. Did you ever think of that?"

Adora closed her eyes and leaned back on the commander's chair. "Bow, you've been quiet."

He looked up, clearly reluctant to speak. "... I'm scared," he said simply. "I'm scared that this is going to turn into something we can't handle. But I also believe in us." He put a hand on Glimmer's back and smiled a little. "Like I said, as soon as Bella does what she said she was going to do, and introduces us to the leaders she knows, then, if we still don't trust her, we can continue our mission on our own. Right?"

"It's just inviting trouble. You don't know how this type plays with people," Catra returned. She looked over at Adora, and then up at Scorpia. "We do."

Glimmer also looked up at Scorpia. "So what do you think?"

She chuckled nervously. "I, uh… can - can Entrapta be the tiebreaker instead?"

Entrapta, in the meantime, had set up some sort of science rig on the floor that Scorpia didn't even slightly recognize. There was some sort of beam pointing at some sort of flat surface hooked up to a completely separate machine, and she was kneeling over the whole thing, poking some buttons and levers with her hair. She lifted her visor and looked up. "Huh?"

"Entrapta wasn't listening," Glimmer said.

"No, I was! I'm just, well," she began, faltering. "I'm not good at this kind of thing. It seems like politics and I'm really bad at politics."

"Well," Glimmer said, "what do you think? Don't worry. We're not going to get upset at each other. Right, everyone?" she added, turning to Adora and Catra.

"I just want to go to the tech planet, please."

"I should have guessed, huh?" she said with a sigh and turned back to Scorpia. Adora did, too. "So, do you want to weigh in?"

"Right, so, uh…" She looked between them, rubbing her head. On one hand, she knew what Catra meant. The realization that she'd been lied to her whole life was not nice to go through. And on the other hand, it could be dangerous to explore the alien planet alone and risk seeming like invaders. Most importantly, she didn't like everyone splitting up over it. "Uh…"

Everyone stared - Glimmer expectant, Bow nervous, Adora conflicted, Catra impatient.

"I don't like this," Scorpia stammered. "It's way too early for us to be arguing over something. Wasn't this going to be a fun space adventure?"

Bow stepped forwards. "You're right," he said. "We're all just trying to keep each other safe. So… I'm gonna defer to the captain."

She saw Catra take a deep breath. She'd been doing that a lot recently.

Adora glanced between Catra and Glimmer, then stood. "... I'm going to defer to the captain, too," she said after a moment.

"Adora -" Catra started.

"No, Bow's right. I believe in us. What can they do to us that we can't manage?" She turned and smiled, offering a hand.

When Catra hesitated, Bow put his hand between everyone. "Super Best Friend Squad promise. We'll be careful, especially around Bella. Okay?"

Glimmer put her hand on top of Bow's, then Adora followed suit. With another glance at Catra, Scorpia stepped forwards, too, sneaking her claw beneath everyone's hands so it would fit. "Entrapta, do you want in on this?"

Entrapta looked up. "Are you touching hands?"

"I - I guess that would be the term for it, yeah," Scorpia replied.

"Okay!" she said, and bounded over, putting a glove on top of Adora's hand.

Scorpia turned back to Catra, as did everyone else. "Come on, wildcat."

"Gah!" she exclaimed, and stalked over, slapping a hand on top of Entrapta's glove. "Fine! But I get to say I told you so when this goes downhill." She pointed at Bow and Glimmer. "And if any of you start warming up to that woman, I reserve the right to smack some sense into you."

"I can accept that," Glimmer replied with a smirk. She looked down at the stack of hands. "... How do we stop this?"

Bow moved his hand down and everyone else's followed. "Super Best Friend Squaaad -" he called, then lifted his hand up, and everyone else tentatively did the same. "- Go!"

"We're gonna have to work on that one," Adora said, her hand still in the air.

"Anyway, let's get ready to go," Glimmer said, heading back towards the airstairs. "Catra, I assume you want to monitor everything."

Catra frowned and followed. In the meantime, Entrapta hopped over to the dashboard and started doing whatever she did to start the ship, while Bow and Adora looked at Bow's screen device thing and talked about terms Scorpia didn't recognize. It was as good a time as any to get her head in the game. _The team's hit a rough patch,_ she thought. _Time to really buckle down and be helpful_.

"Hey, guys!" she started cheerfully, walking over to Adora and Bow. "Anything that needs doing? Maybe something that needs… moving, or…?"

Bow and Adora looked at one another. "Well," Bow suggested, "do you want to learn ship stuff?"

"It would be an honor to learn ship stuff," Scorpia replied, brightening. "I was a heavy machines expert in the Horde. That's why I was a Force Captain."

"You were what?" Bow asked, blinking at least three times.

"Yeah, she was heavy machinery when I was still a kid," Adora added.*

"Hold on," Bow said, putting both hands up. "I am learning a lot all at once. How - how much older are you than us?"

"It's rude to ask a lady her age, Bow," Adora replied. "You should really learn Etherian etiquette."

"Seven? Eight years?" Scorpia replied anyway, lost in thought. "If my math is right."

"Oh, yeah." Bow put his tracker pad to his head, resigned. "You didn't have birthdays in the Horde."

The airlock opened behind them with a hiss, and they turned. Before they saw them, they heard Bella's even, cool footsteps. Her height surprised Scorpia again, even though it had only been a few minutes. She was used to being the tall one. Bella put a gracious hand to her chest. "It's good to see you all healthy and ready."

Catra and Glimmer were close behind; Glimmer maintained a somewhat friendly smile, and Catra did not. She had Lancer restrained in a pair of heavy-looking cuffs.

"If you're interested," Bella began, "I have planned several small activities to lead you through when we reach Automa, as a tour of sorts. My friends inform me that I've gained us access to the International Embassy three days from now."

Catra glanced over at Adora, frowning. "Three days, huh?"

"We appreciate it," Glimmer said quickly. "We may use the time for research, if that's what we decide."

"Of course," Bella replied with a small bow. "Though I should inform you that my tour is designed to give you an impression of our planet and the Isorai people."

"R-right," Glimmer stammered. "We'll be discussing it sometime today."

"Ah, in the meantime." Bella headed to the dashboard. "Entrapta, if you would open communications to the Outpost? I think you're going to enjoy seeing this."

"Short range non-magical teleportation?" Entrapta replied, her excitement hardly restrained. "I'm _recording_ it! From _multiple angles!_ Darla, contact the Outpost, please!"

Catra followed close behind Bella, still tense. "Melog," she said lowly, and Melog shifted into view behind her, stalking around Lancer and growling. She was huge now, and her mane had turned to oscillating sharp red spikes. Lancer seemed unimpressed.

Bella gave that sort of half-smile she'd given before. As Darla came into view, Bella cleared her throat. "Private Daeza. Please open the warp to Automa, Sector 6."

The transmission buzzed for a second. "Yes, Ordnance Commander," Daeza replied.

For a moment, nothing happened. Scorpia looked around just in case they were moving but she hadn't noticed yet. Then, in front of the viewport, a few small metallic objects, propelled by rockets, moved into place in a sort of pattern in front of them. Between these objects, something seemed to waver in an enormous circle, the stars in the distance vibrating slightly as though someone had started to turn a section of space. A bright light formed around the circle and, gradually, it filled with a swirling blackness.

Adora and Bow stepped back, almost in sync, probably prepared for it to be a threat. Scorpia was enraptured. "Wow," she said, stepping forwards to join Entrapta and Bella at the dashboard. "Are we gonna fly through that?"

"Yup!" Entrapta replied, pressing a couple buttons. Without any further fanfare, Darla lurched forwards and directly into the circle.

* * *

The warp control room went silent after the girl's cackling and the panic from the rest of the crew were swallowed by the warp. Daeza watched the ship disappear in the warp proximity camera, then leaned back on the control chair with a long, heavy sigh. It was best to put it out of her mind.

"Good riddance." Daeza turned to see Eluda at the door, technically the only superior on the Outpost now and the default leader. But leading hardly agreed with Eluda's temperament. "Rotten old woman," she continued. "Maybe she'll finally get a promotion or something and we never have to see her again."

Daeza didn't respond. With no immediate duties, she was having a hard time distracting herself.

"What's the matter with you? You know I'm not gonna make us keep this stupid outpost spit-clean. It's smooth sailing until they send someone else up here." Eluda headed over, leaning on the control table. "Think of it like a vacation."

If Daeza could speak to anyone at Outpost C, it might be Eluda. But even then, not much. She decided to keep it brief. "I might also be leaving."

Eluda stared for a moment, her arms folded. "You're talking about deserting."

Daeza nodded.

"I can't let you do that," Eluda replied. "As soon as they piece together what's going on with Bella, they're going to be sending new Commanders up here. How do you think it's gonna look for me if you've deserted while I was in charge?"

Last night, those old dreams had resurfaced for the first time in years. When she was woken by the debacle with Lancer, it was right in the middle of the dinner that always preceded the rest of the dream, in the middle of her conversation with Sev about jokes. He tried for years to make a decent pun, but never figured out how. And when she was woken, vague memories of the rest of that dream reverberated in her mind like a deep yearning. All morning, she had felt nothing but hollow.

"Come on," Eluda said, standing and whacking her on the shoulder. "Maybe if you do a bad enough job, I can have you dishonorably discharged."

"Lieutenant Eluda," Daeza acknowledged lowly. She stood and headed for the door.

"Hey." Eluda placed a familiar hand on her shoulder. "No reason to be like that."

Daeza pushed it away. "Do _not_ start with me." She stared for a moment before that cold feeling rushed through her again and she took her leave.

* * *

As though they'd blinked all at once, the ship shuddered and everything went dark. Then, a fraction of a second later, they were hovering over a planet, massive and glorious and colorful, patterns of grey clouds swirling and roiling over the surface of the distant water. While the others marvelled, Catra kept an eye on Lancer and Melog. He hadn't spoken yet, and it was agitating her.

She slunk over silently and lifted his head with a claw. "You're lucky our captain is nice," she said, keeping her voice low. "I've been thinking of what I would've done to you."

Lancer met her gaze, nothing but exhausted. There was no spite or terror or even remorse. Just exhaustion.

"Nothing to say," she muttered. She hadn't slept the night before either. As soon as everything had resolved, she told the rest of the crew that she would handle it, and before they could protest, carried Adora off to the ship. She sat in the commander's chair and held her in her lap, keeping an ear out for invaders, waiting for her to awaken.

Adora watched out of the corner of her eye. A couple months ago, Catra would have paid someone to knock her out. Now it was like she'd declared the guy an enemy for it. She pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, thinking. "Catra," she called.

Catra glanced over. "What?"

"I want to talk to you for a second."

"Alright, everyone!" came Entrapta's voice over the intercom, though they were all in the same room. "Get into your restraints! We're landing!"

Adora pursed her lips and headed over to the back wall to pull down the restraint seats. After a last narrow glare at Lancer, Catra headed over to help. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Your head okay?"

"What? Yeah, it's fine," Adora replied, sitting down. The seats were repurposed fabric and some scrap metal welded pretty naturally into the design of the busy back wall. "I just… didn't notice till now, but you're getting really protective of me."

Catra laughed once, but it wasn't a confident laugh. "No. Get over yourself. I - he just scared me."

"I'm just saying…" Adora shook her head a little. "If you keep doing that, you're going to make people angry, get in trouble, burn bridges. You know. I can handle myself."

"Yeah, remind me of that next time you smell something weird in the middle of the night," Catra scoffed. She frowned and looked back at Lancer, grimacing. Then, her eyes fell, her expression softened. "I'm not gonna stop," she whispered, leaning over.

"What?"

"I don't care if you don't like it. Get mad at me if you want." She put a hand on Adora's leg. "I'm not gonna stop. That's an ultimatum."

"That's not what an ultimatum is," Adora replied, then put a hand on hers. "And I can't tell if you're being sweet or really, really frustrating."

The ship began to rumble as they entered the atmosphere. In the distance, they already saw lights and patterns on the continent in front of them, and in less than a minute, they'd hit the cloud cover. On the other side of the ship, Bow and Glimmer had been gripping one another's hands since they entered the warp. They were probably never going to get over exit and re-entry.

When the ship slowed - impressive control on Entrapta's part, of course - Glimmer let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She was well awake now. Mostly.

She squeezed Bow's hand. Last night had been rocky in a couple ways. Ever since they'd left Etheria, her dreams had been potent. Maybe not all bad, but all profound. After they'd managed to handle the Lancer situation, she headed back to her room, but couldn't make it fifteen minutes without something pulling her from sleep. Her chest was tight and she couldn't get comfortable.

After an hour, she'd considered heading to Bow's room. Maybe it was sleeping alone that was turning her stomach. But she forgot where Bow was staying, and quickly gave up on the idea. Instead her mind began to wander into several directions, almost at the same time. Bow; Adora, Catra; her mother… Hordak. They stormed through her mind until she heard a knock on her door the next morning and realized her eyes were sore and dry with a lack of sleep.

Bella had taken the restraint seat next to hers and had folded her hands on her lap, saying nothing. She was constantly unfazed. Glimmer saw where everyone was coming from, but once Bow and Adora eventually agreed with her, she felt a little more confident in her decision. "So," she said as Entrapta lowered them further towards the ground. "You've cleared us and everything?"

"Indeed, Queen Glimmer," she replied in her cool contralto. "Your ship has been catalogued, and there are officials at hand in the Mundara spaceport prepared to arrest Lancer." She put a hand on her chest again. "Leave everything to me."

"We're going to have to meet again once we touch down, alright?"

"Of course. I will escort Lancer to the authorities in the meantime."

Glimmer found it difficult to talk around her affable demeanor. "Thank you," she said, hopefully as Queen Glimmer might say it.

Finally, the clouds faded, and below them, the city of Mundara was revealed. Glimmer almost gasped. It was pure metal and stone - smooth, incoherent buildings were clustered together in broad, messy patterns and blocks, and around them wrapped streets simply teeming with people and small vehicles. A train passed above the streets on a suspended track, and the shoreline they descended over was cluttered with ships and dock buildings, all of them bouncing gently in the black water.

"Transmit to the Mundara spaceport," Entrapta said from the commander's chair, undoing her own restraints. "Hi! This is Darla! We're ready to park!"

Bella undid her own restraints and stood, gesturing out of the viewport as the ship lowered onto a raised platform along the shoreline. As the tops of the buildings disappeared out of view, Automa suddenly seemed claustrophobic, the city's disparate buildings like the teeth of some colossal monster.

Bella tried to keep herself from smiling as she saw each of their expressions begin to change. She gestured. "Welcome to Automa."

* * *

"Just inhale. Feel the water moving around you."

His little brother was correct. Perfuma was accommodating. Perhaps too accommodating. After she'd captured them in her vines on the outskirts of town - still understandably paranoid about Horde clones - she had recognized his little brother, coming to refer to him as 'Wrong Hordak.' Hordak took offense to this, but in the week they'd been there, neither had made a single effort to find him a more suitable and less openly plagiarized name.

Now, every afternoon, Perfuma and Wrong Hordak had somehow pressured him into spending some time with them in the Rose Grotto beneath Plumeria. Flowering plants grew along the walls and from the cool stony ground, reaching towards the sunlight that entered the cave from the large aperture in the stone above. A cool stream ran around a mossy island in the middle of the grotto, and it was on this island they would sit together, always alone. It made him restless.

"Sense the flowers," Perfuma continued. "Their scent is their expression of joy, a joy of being alive. Their colors are how they communicate their respect and their love for one another, and for all living things."

It was like this every day. At least she wasn't asking him questions. He had a lot to ruminate upon while she blathered about plants and kindness.

"So, yesterday," Perfuma began. He stifled the urge to groan. "Wrong Hordak mentioned the Hivemind. Do you want to talk about that?"

Hordak opened his eyes, frowning.

"Right." Princess Perfuma was a tall, thin woman, one of the more powerful combatants he'd had the displeasure of dealing with towards the end of the war. And yet, the first time he had encroached upon her territory, she did nothing until under the direct leadership of She-Ra. Since they'd arrived, he'd taken note of a strange conflict between her power and her demeanor. "You talk if you want to."

"I have been thinking about my own Hivemind experiences," his little brother offered. He'd begun to let his hair grow out, and the coloring effect the Pit of Suffering had on him had begun to disperse, revealing the natural variance in Horde clone pigmentation; splotches of his hair were now a dull violet, not unlike his own blue.

"Feel free to share," Perfuma said, putting a hand on his upper arm.

"I realized that it is not enough to be freed from the Hivemind." He mimicked Perfuma's hands-together posture. "When one purpose is lost, another purpose must be found. I have found friends," he added, looking with an upsettingly sincere smile to Perfuma.

"Have you thought about that, Hordak?"

"I do not wish to. It is contrary to my goals." Hordak was struck by a building compulsion and stood. "I have spent too much time here already. I have work to do. Great things to accomplish."

Perfuma looked up at him. "What? Where are you going to go?"

"It was a mistake to spend so much time in one place. I have endangered you and the rest of this kingdom." He stepped over to his little brother. "Rise. We must ready ourselves and depart."

Wrong Hordak glanced over at Perfuma and stood with a little sigh. "If I've learned anything, it's that we must learn to rely on others, brother." He looked between the two of them and Hordak could tell he was about to discuss what he told him very strictly not to discuss. "Hordak wants to leave the planet to rejoin Entrapta and we're trying to figure out how to do that."

"Ohh!" Perfuma cooed, also standing. "That's dangerous. And sweet!"

"It is _not_ sweet. It is an expression of logical self-preservation." Hordak felt a strange heat move through his chest and into his head. Perhaps he was becoming ill. "Princess Entrapta is the most likely force to be able to convince the King and Queen of Bright Moon that I am no longer a threat."

Perfuma put a hand on her chin. "I'm a Princess, too, you know. And I'm convinced you're not a threat." When Hordak floundered for a response, she smiled. "What's really going on? You've made a friend, haven't you?"

He recalled Entrapta lit by sparking machinery and felt his scowl soften. "The plan," he began, holding his fists at his sides, "is to edit the trajectory of the exile vessel, and steal it. I finished planning three days ago and I have been procrastinating."

"That means he's been having a good time," Wrong Hordak jumped in, patting him on his armored shoulder. He gave Perfuma a thumbs-up, which he had explained in great detail to Hordak a few days prior.

"I have been… considering… where I might find an engineer to assist me," he corrected.

"Maybe I can help," Perfuma replied, brightening. "I have a few ideas. It's good to see you open up, Hordak."

His scowl returned. "I have already apologized. There is little more I can do for you."

"How about a hug? Have you ever had a hug?" Perfuma opened her arms.

Before he could respond, Susan beeped twice. "Accept transmission?" came the staticky little voice from somewhere in the web of nanomachines.

Hordak looked between the two of them. He felt his heart rate slowly increase as he remembered the feeling the first time Entrapta contacted him. Perhaps he _was_ becoming ill. "Save," he muttered, and, without another word, turned to leave the grotto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * **_Portal Error._** It's suggested during the portal event that Scorpia and Adora didn't know one another in the Horde. However, given the size of the Horde and Adora's rapid advancement, it's likely they would have passing knowledge of one another. It's also possible to attribute the portal event interaction to the fact that Scorpia's and Adora's memories were affected by the event itself.
> 
> I almost forgot to mention! The discord server is going very well so far, and I've had the time to draw Daeza. You can find her character sheet below:
> 
> https://i.imgur.com/PJR5v9p.png


	10. CHAPTER VII: Changing Plans

So far, the plan had been working properly.

She had not been a Vice Admiral for no reason. Her positioning of Lancer was far from shallow: while she was investigating his loyalty towards her on one hand, she was putting a potential first phase into action, one with an admittedly small chance of success. If Lancer was able to subdue the girl, she would have then simply subdued the Queen and killed the rest. Their knowledge of and potential to wield this energy they called "magic" would have taken her far beyond returning to her original position. They would have made her a force to be reckoned with.

Of course, she could not be so lucky, and thus they had entered their first contingent; she had lost some trust with the newcomers, but not enough for them to fully condemn her. This was due to Lancer's quick thinking, one of his more reliable characteristics. And that was fortunate for him as well - if she had to resort to her second contingent, Lancer would quickly become insignificant, if not a problem that would require address.

She led him off the ship as the newcomers began yet another presumably tense dialogue about her. Although she expected to share some words with him, the newcomers' surprise sixth teammate, Catra, had followed her out. Nothing lost, of course. They would meet that night.

"Officers," she said, resisting the urge to glance back at Catra. "I believe you've received our full report." She led Lancer towards the two Mundara Civic Officers - both hers, of course. Nawls and Ingram, respectable servants of the law on her payroll.

"Yes, ma'am." Nawls took Lancer roughly by the arm. "He'll be held in the Sector 6 Holding Facility until his court date. You might receive a summons."

Bella didn't reply. She marked a note in her holo-pad and nodded. "Goodbye, Lancer," she said, looking up. "Hopefully you learn your lesson."

"Hopefully," he returned, keeping his voice low. Their eyes met and Bella felt her jaw clench when she saw the insurrectionary gleam in his eye. She may have to consider his goals more closely.

She turned as the officers led him to a waiting holding vehicle. "Good morning," she said to Catra, offering one of her more friendly smiles. "I don't believe we ever properly met."

"And we won't," Catra replied, standing in her way at the top of the airstairs. "You can wait until everyone's finished."

Ever since this one had made her presence known, Bella had taken careful note of how she behaved. A spy, presumably, further clarifying that the newcomers did not trust her. Catra in particular appeared to have a sort of personal grudge against her. This is where their naivety would serve as a powerful tool. "Excuse me," she began, adopting a concerned expression, "have I offended you in some way?"

"Don't even try," Catra hissed in reply. "They might be willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm not."

 _Benefit of the doubt,_ she thought. _Then I must simply sow doubt._ "I apologize for any misgivings I may have caused," she said, bowing slightly. She was no stranger to false supplication. "Is there any way I can regain your trust?"

When she looked back up, Catra was staring at her with the fragile hatred of a sworn enemy. "No," she replied curtly, and headed back into the ship.

Bella remained at the bottom of the airstairs and allowed herself another small smile. To a lesser tactician, this would be a wrinkle in their plans. But not for Bella. There were plenty more contingencies to rely upon.

"Transmit to Outpost C," she said into her holo-pad, turning away from the ship. "Lieutenant Eluda. My plan has come to require your talents."

* * *

The first things that struck Entrapta as she skipped out of the airstairs were the scents of smoke and oil and saltwater - the scents of industry. She couldn't help but laugh as she stared up at the buildings with their miniature satellite towers and at the suspended railway and at the rumbling vehicles crowding the streets among the swarming crowd.

She waved back towards the ship. "Why are you all taking so long?!" she shouted. "We're on an alien planet!" She flipped Darla's control in the air and snapped it onto her belt. As soon as they got moving, Darla would hover above them, well in range for their translator-transponders. She should think of a better name for those.

The rest of the crew appeared at the airstairs momentarily; Scorpia first, opening her jacket as the heat of the day hit her and heading down the stairs with a bright smile. "We're back in action!" she said, holding out a claw for a high-... claw.

Bow wandered out after, similarly awestruck. "Wow," he breathed, heading over to Entrapta and Scorpia. "It's so… much. Where do we start?"

Just before he could finish, he was interrupted by an impressively loud growling stomach. Scorpia laughed. "I think breakfast."

"If you're interested, there are a few lovely cafes on the Mundara waterfront," Bella said, appearing next to Scorpia as though magically.

Scorpia jumped. Now there were two people good at sneaking. She looked up at Bella, something that she hadn't done in a long while. "Uh… I think everyone is still discussing that," she said, turning to Bow. "Right?"

Bow put a hand on his temple. "I think it's mostly just bickering now. They… do that from time to time."

In fact, back on the ship, Glimmer at least was trying very hard not to bicker. After a few minutes of conversation, their positions had become quite clear: Glimmer was moving forwards cautiously with Bella, Adora was moving forwards even more cautiously with Bella, and Catra wanted to throw Bella into a deep hole and run away. "There isn't a limit to how careful you can be, Glimmer," Catra was saying. "Why can't you understand that?"

"Have you ever thought that maybe I'm trying to keep her close to the chest, just in case?" Glimmer retorted. Adora stood between them, her arms folded, staring at the ground. "Can't you give me the same courtesy I'm giving you and not assume I'm _stupid?_ "

"No, that's not what -" Catra waved her hands. "It's not about being _stupid_ or not! Shadow -" She stopped herself, and suddenly it was like a mask fell from her face. "Shadow Weaver was able to manipulate some of the smartest people I know. Bella is the same type."

Glimmer felt herself slip from irritated to concerned. She hesitated for a moment and reached forwards to take Catra by the wrist. "I'm sorry. But we can't take it as a given that Bella is the same kind of person as Shadow Weaver. She's suspicious, but there's a chance that she's being honest."

Catra just stared and shook her head. "You're never going to understand."

Adora stepped towards the two and reached an arm around both of their shoulders, pulling them into a sort of half-hug. "Quit fighting."

"I'm trying not to fight." Glimmer returned the hug. "I just want to do my best," she added after a moment. "I want everyone to be safe, but I want to do this fast and without causing trouble."

For a moment, Catra seemed about to speak, but thought better of it. "... I'll just have to keep an eye on her," Catra replied, her voice low. She snaked a hand around Adora's lower back and managed a somewhat uncomfortable smile.

When they turned to leave, Catra took Adora's hand and pulled her back for a moment, bringing her into a brief, cautious kiss. "I don't like this," she murmured.

"I know," Adora replied. "We'll get away from her as fast as we can." She took her by the shoulder and ran a hand down her arm. "I didn't expect this to happen. But… we have to use everything we have available. Don't forget about our goal."

"I'm not here for your goal."

At the top of the airstairs, Glimmer glanced behind her at the two talking quietly. She knew their reservations had something to do with Shadow Weaver. But just like the thing with Bow, she hadn't let herself think about it. Maybe she didn't realize it would impact them like it did. Maybe she'd just been thoughtless. _Either way,_ she thought, _you need to get it together, Glimmer. Queen Glimmer, remember?_

She headed down the stairs and over to the group. "We've decided to follow your itinerary, Ordnance Commander Bella," Glimmer began. "Lead the way."

* * *

The cafe was simply coated with tech. The door was automatic, the walls were covered in holo-screens either displaying some sort of programming or something interactable in the local language, there was a tiny robot sweeping the floors, there was a robot above them that was acting as a fan and a security camera, there were three robots handling the drinks and food and operating _other machines,_ and every one of the three dozen other people in the cafe were at least somewhat robotic. Entrapta, who had been distracted with her recorder as she listed the possibilities for vehicles as they crossed the street, immediately swapped to being interested about all of this instead.

"A maddening confluence of technology," she said into her recorder, practically whispering. "I am holding back the urge to take everything and everyone apart."

"How about we try some of the local cuisine instead?" Bow said, patting her shoulder. "It's been a couple weeks since we've had anything other than ancient space food." He looked up at one of the screens, paled, and looked around at all the other screens. "I don't know which one is the menu and I couldn't read it anyway."

"I should do something about that," Entrapta muttered, taking out her recorder again. "Continuation of day one: turn Bow's tracker pad into a visual translator."

"You can do that?" Bow asked, following her over to the wall. "You have to teach me some of this stuff. It's so cool."

She tapped at one of the interactable screens. "I can tell you a few things. Though I'm not a very good teacher," she added. "I never know what terms people know and what terms they don't. And it seems like a lot of trouble to keep asking."

"Then I'll ask you if I don't know a word. Deal?" Bow put out a fist.

"That works for me!" Entrapta replied, smacking Bow's fist with her hair.

Scorpia, meanwhile, had just been able to grab a seat near the windows as one group left, brushing past her and scanning her with some surprise. That wasn't new. Not many people had tails. But it was like these people hadn't even considered tails as a possibility. She waved over at Bow and Entrapta. "Guys! I got a table!"

"Alright!" Bow headed over while Entrapta continued messing with the screen on the wall. "This is pretty crazy, right? Being on a new planet, with… whole cities on it. They have food and money and their own language and it's all so different."

"For sure. I want to meet the people with claws. I think we'd hit it off," Scorpia replied with a smile. She looked over as Glimmer, Catra, and Adora entered the cafe behind Bella. They were a distance away, but she lowered her voice anyway. "What do you think about all this stuff with Bella?"

Bow looked over as well. "I don't know where all their confidence went. You know, I didn't want to leave in five days. There was still so much to do back home. But they were so excited about it, they got _me_ excited about it." He sighed. "And now it's like all that energy is gone."

"Don't worry." Entrapta had appeared behind him and pulled out a chair with her hair. "We're making record time. Leaping from the outside of the star system to the habitable planet saved us over a month, by my calculations."

"It'll be nice to get back," Bow replied, scratching his cheek, "but I'm still worried about them." He leaned onto the table as Glimmer turned to wave at them. He waved back.

"Aren't we leaving right away again anyway?" Scorpia asked. "Big universe to save, and all that."

"I hope we take a _little_ time off, at least." Bow paused and looked over. "You know, you were really ready to leave Etheria. Is everything okay?"

Scorpia hadn't thought about it in weeks, that sinking feeling when she learned the Fright Zone had been magically revitalized, that sudden claustrophobia. "I wanted to see the stars up close," she replied after a moment. It wasn't a lie. Just not the whole truth.

Glimmer headed over with Adora and Catra in tow, cutting their conversation short. "Hey, everyone," she said, stifling a yawn, and the three of them took their seats in a row. Bella stood nearby, watching over the broad, metallic cafe counter as the machines started to prepare their food. "Bella ordered for us, since we don't know the… anything."

"You tired?" Bow asked.

"I'm _so_ tired," Glimmer groaned, putting her head in her hands. "I need a nap. We've got a whole planet to figure out and I just need another hour of sleep."

Bow and Catra nodded and said "Me, too," simultaneously, then looked at one another and snorted with laughter.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm _very_ well-rested," Adora rejoined with a smirk, leaning back in her chair.

Glimmer nudged her with an elbow. "We can't all be almost kidnapped."

"Not with that attitude."

For the first time in a while, they all shared a laugh, and that intrepid, restless feeling returned. They'd landed on a planet successfully and had not, thus far, been shot at. All things considered, maybe it was going better than they thought.

* * *

For the first time in a while, Eluda thought she might sleep in. But, as always, someone out there wanted her to have a terrible time. "Alert. Transmission from Pad-082," the intercom said suddenly, pulling her out of a dreamless sleep. The lights in her room flickered on and she lifted her head, placing a hand on her skull mod. She knew Pad-082.

"Lieutenant Eluda," came Bella's voice, rough and staticky. "My plan has come to require your talents."

She shifted her legs off her bed, momentarily exhausted, and then picked up her pillow and tore it in two with a shout of frustration, flinging one half against the steel wall.

She dressed and geared up and headed down to the canteen to have a quick drink before leaving. But the canteen wasn't empty when she arrived - Daeza had woken before she did, even without an alarm, and was staring out through the viewport above, her standard ration untouched. They didn't speak as Eluda headed over to the juicer and filled up her flask.

"I need you to work the warp," Eluda said eventually, turning. "Bella wants me down on Automa. I guess she can't handle those kids like she said she could."

Daeza looked over, clearly torn from her thoughts. "What?"

"I'm heading down to the planet." Eluda pulled up a chair at the head of the table, the one generally reserved for Bella. "I assume you can guess why I'm needed," she added, tapping the semiglass eye on her skull mod and gesturing to her layers of gear.

Daeza stood suddenly, with an energy that surprised Eluda. "You can't."

"What?" Eluda put her flask down, then cocked her eyebrow. "You gonna miss me?"

"You can't be part of it," Daeza said, leaning forwards on the table. "Those are children."

"They're not literally children. I don't know what's up with your fish biology, but if they're anything like Automa people, they're all well into adulthood." Eluda stood as well, far more casually. "They should have known what they were getting into."

"Tyl can work the warp. I'm coming with you."

Eluda laughed one cold, clear laugh. "You trying to desert again? I don't think so. You're staying right here, and I'm going to go do my job. How about you do yours, Chief Engineer?" She sneered. "Oh, wait."

"Eluda," she said, her voice hitting that certain serious tone. "You'll have to kill me."

The self-seriousness struck her like a slap to the face. This is why it had never worked out between them. She pulled her snubnose plasma pistol out of its holster, fast as a snap of the fingers, and jammed it beneath Daeza's chin. "What makes you think I won't put a hole through your pretty, stupid little head?"

Daeza said nothing. She placed a hand on the gun, lowering it.

"You really thought I was about to shoot you," Eluda said with a heavy sigh, and stuck the pistol back in her holster. "You got problems."

"I'm not going to let you hurt them," Daeza replied, putting a hand on her hip. "I don't care what Bella says. I'm coming with you."

Eluda stared for a second, briefly remembering the texture of her hair. Aquarian hair had a certain fictile quality to it, so different in every way from normal human hair, soft as silk. She frowned and looked down to Daeza's breakfast. "Eat. We're leaving in five."

* * *

The day turned out informative but otherwise hollow. The city was crowded and loud and they just barely managed to stay together as a group, especially with Entrapta constantly distracted by things. Fortunately, it wasn't difficult to follow Bella; Glimmer hadn't seen a single other Arboriform person since they'd arrived.

They drifted between museums and public facilities and industrial buildings and shops as Bella began to explain Automa. Most of the planet was taken up by Mundara, the global city; synthetic farms, sometimes taking up every level of one of the staggering skyscrapers they passed, produced meat and vegetables, while arkalite-powered machinery recycled waste into new material around the clock. It was efficient and logical and it had been this way for hundreds of years, since an event Bella called the Joining War.

"Indeed, our forefathers rallied together when Neoma was destroyed," Bella said as they paused in front of a courthouse with a completely disparate design to the surrounding structures. "Not as a show of rebellion, but as a show of allyship in service of the Horde. Thus, we became one of Horde Prime's three primary arkalite processing facilities. Our recycling capabilities are legendary."

"How do you collect all of the trash?" Bow asked. Glimmer and Adora were paying attention, but he was hanging onto every word.

Bella smiled. "It's automated."

Entrapta was flipping back and forth between tinkering with Bow's tracker pad and taking notes on Bella's lectures. "Reminder," she said into her recorder. "See the trash bots."

It had gone on like that for a few hours. Bella would explain their government, Glimmer would try to pay attention, Bow would ask questions, Entrapta would take notes. Bella would explain their economy, the same. Despite herself, as they hit the afternoon, Glimmer had mostly tuned out, choosing instead to stare up at the endless rows of buildings. She hadn't seen a single tree yet and it was starting to concern her.

They stopped for dinner along a stretch of road with shorter buildings than usual. As it turned out, dinner on Automa was happening at around lunchtime for them, but Glimmer was ready to sleep as soon as possible. The idea of another strange sandwich like the one they had for "breakfast" didn't appeal to her much either. She found a table under an awning, right in front of a cool alleyway, and collapsed into one of the chairs. Above, distant walkways and wood lattices cast patterned shadows across the table.

"What a day, right?" she heard Bow from behind her. He sat in the next chair and put an arm around her shoulders. "This place is fascinating." When she didn't respond, he squeezed her shoulder a little. "Still tired, huh?"

" _So_ tired," she replied again. "But also…" Before she could finish her thought, the rest of the crew followed. Scorpia, Catra, and Adora were laughing about something, and Entrapta was still fiddling with Bow's tracker pad. "... Also, doesn't it feel like we haven't done anything?"

"What do you mean?" Adora said, sitting across from her.

"We've just been learning about this place. And there's no mention of anything magical. We haven't gotten anywhere."

Catra chuckled. "Well, yeah, it's been less than a day, Sparkles. What did you expect?"

"I don't know," Glimmer replied. "Something. Entrapta, have you detected anything?"

Entrapta put Bow's pad on the table and took out a screen of her own. "It's been a little rough so far, because the main source of energy that's used here is technically magical, so I've had to phase out that specific wavelength in order to reveal any non-standard magic. It's fuzzy, but nothing's jumped out so far."

"Can't we use the magic stuff that exists here to, you know… wake up the planet or something?" Glimmer groaned. "This is not my expertise."

"Revitalizing the magic at the core of Automa isn't nearly so simple," Entrapta replied, putting her visor down and opening her little device into a much larger device with legs to allow it to stand on its own on the table. "Etheria's magic had been suppressed and the devices suppressing it needed to be destabilized. As far as I know, magic can only fade at all due to a similar suppression. We have to find the device or method used to suppress the magic and destroy it."

"No, I know that."

Entrapta lifted her visor again. "Then what are you asking?"

Glimmer pointed at the bright, glowing sign above them and at the wire extending from it and leading to a small box on the wall inside of which a small shard of arcanolithine was glowing. "That! Can we do something with that?"

"Oh. No," Entrapta replied simply.

Glimmer sighed deeply and put her head on the table.

"We're probably not going to make any progress until we meet with the world leaders," Adora said. "Tomorrow, maybe we can start asking around about magic. That's probably our best bet."

"And in the meantime," Scorpia offered, "let's relax a little bit. I mean, it's at least a little interesting to be on an alien planet, right? And I'm loving the food they have here. It's greasy."

Glimmer felt a hit of nausea. "That doesn't help."

"Oh, my bad."

"Hold on," Adora said. Everyone turned to her and she stared at Glimmer, her eyes narrowing. Glimmer could see the gears actively turning in her head. "... Did you and Bow get together?"

"Are you… serious, Adora?" Catra asked, completely bemused.

Glimmer glanced down at Bow's arm, which was still around her. "I mean, yeah."

Scorpia started to laugh as Catra put her head in her hands. "I can't _believe_ that you didn't notice."

"I don't know! I wasn't paying attention!" Adora cried. "When did - how? When?"

"That's the thing," Bow replied with a smile. "It's sort of been a long time."

Glimmer glanced over at him, feeling herself break into a smile as well. There was something so fulfilling about that wavelength, how well he knew her. It was energizing. "But we only really talked about it yesterday," she added.

"Then how did you even notice in the first place?" She whipped around to Catra, who had started to laugh. "You were sneaking around! That's why you figured it out! I got it eventually."

Catra wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her in, messing up her hair. "You brick."

"Scorpia! Did you know?"

"I sure did."

Adora reached out. "No, Scorpia, why? Betrayal!"

"Got it!" Entrapta triumphantly held out Bow's tracker pad in the middle of the table, drawing everyone's attention. "This should now be linked up to Darla's crystal data," she said, pointing up. Darla was still hovering far above them, gleaming orange in the sunset. "Do you want to try it?"

"Yes," Bow replied quickly, grabbing it. He held it out in front of him and scanned the area. "Wow. How did you get it so smooth?" Glimmer saw that the screen displayed a live image from the lens on the other side of the pad, and every time it moved over text, that text instantly became Etherian.

"Your pad is already really low-latency. I just worked with what was there."

"Amazing," Bow muttered, moving it up to the sign above them. "Jolene's, huh?"

"Check out the screens and the posters," Adora said, scrambling to her feet and pointing at one on the alley wall.

He moved the pad over, standing to get a better angle. "Tovar and the Lizards. I think it's a band. There's a list of places and dates."

"This one," Adora said, moving and pointing again.

As she did, Bella arrived behind them alongside a wheeled automaton carrying a platter of different hot foods and beverages. Catra felt her ears perk up and kept an eye on her.

"That one," Bow confirmed, moving the pad over. His expression fell from excitement to confusion to concern. "Clone fight?"

Adora blinked. "Clone fight?" She stepped over and looked down at Bow's pad. The poster, which seemed fresh, was simple text advertising a "clone fight," including a date she wasn't familiar with as well as a location. There were no images and there was no explanation.

"Ah, yes," Bella said, stepping into the alleyway and looking down at them. "With the fading presence of the Horde, there is little regulation on Horde-type cloning. After hundreds of years, it seems as though clone fights are becoming less dangerous to advertise publicly."

As the automaton placed the large platter on the table, Glimmer stood as well and walked over. "What is a clone fight like?" she asked cautiously.

"Of course, it is a fight between clones, Queen Glimmer," Bella replied, bowing slightly as she approached. "Usually not deadly. Though, sometimes…"

"What?" Adora muttered, less at Bella and more in recognition. A rush of energy passed down her spine. "Is this legal?"

"There are no laws against it," Bella replied coolly. "The Horde would regulate cloning, considering any non-Horde practice a poor and dishonorable imitation. But Automa itself does not acknowledge clones as people."

Adora turned to the poster and tore it off the wall, showing it to her. "Where is this happening?"

Bella's smile was almost apologetic. "I'm afraid I don't know. The city is vast."

"Bow," Adora said, rolling up the poster and handing it to him. She gave him a single intense glare and he nodded. Glimmer picked up on her intent as well. There are things Adora will not stand for. "How many days until the one on the poster?" she asked Bella.

"Oh, are you interested?" Bella replied, her smile unchanged. "It appears to be scheduled for midnight tonight."

Glimmer and Adora shared a look. "Alright," Glimmer said, heading back to the table. Entrapta had packed up her tech and put her visor down, and Scorpia and Catra were staring at the conversation, turned around in their chairs. "We're going to find a place to rest tonight, and then Adora, Bow, and I are going to head out before midnight and look into this."

"Really?" Catra replied, leaning on the back of her chair. "Looks like this is just one clone fight. You're not going to stop it by kicking down the door and beating up the bad guys."

"If it saves a life, I'm going to do it," Adora replied, walking over and putting a hand on the table. Catra saw her thinking, saw the determination as her jaw set and her eyes narrowed.

She sighed. "I guess we won't get much sleep tonight either."

"No," Adora said. "It's just me, Bow, and Glimmer. We need you all to watch the stuff. And the ship, too."

"Hey, no way," Catra said, standing up next to her. "I'm coming, too."

Adora frowned. "We'll talk about it." She looked down at the platter of strange foods and her stomach flipped. "You all should eat. I'm… not hungry."

* * *

"But that's all up to keeping the interstices intact. I'm considering a comb matrix and liquid cooling. Otherwise, you're going to get particulate blowback."

Hordak kept the glowstones in his room low. It was well-decorated and rife with growing things, but it had begun to feel like a prison. Tonight, like every night before, he sat on the edge of his bed, listening carefully to Entrapta's newest message, churning his plans over in his mind as she spoke about something he barely understood.

Perfuma had informed him that the "makers' community of Etheria" had begun to reconstruct space-ready vehicles using First Ones tech they were slowly salvaging from Beast Island. He had started to consider this as a more effective alternative to his idea of adjusting the exile vehicle, which may not have piloting capabilities at all. If he could ingratiate himself with this community, he could easily obtain a vehicle that could take him away from this world that hates him and towards her.

"You know, Hordak," came her staticky voice from his shoulder. For a moment, he could have sworn he felt breath on his neck. "It's so much easier with a lab partner. Bow is interested and Scorpia is nice. But it's not the same."

He leaned forwards and put his head in his hands. That light-headed, ill feeling returned. It must be some aspect of his defections.

"I hope you're getting these messages," she said. "I still think about you all the time. Every day, I wish you were here, or maybe that I was there." There was a long pause, full seconds as the white noise of the transmission carried on. "Signing off," she said finally, her voice weak. "Miss you."

Some sort of electricity pulsed through him. He clenched a fist and touched the crystal on his sternum, still lost in thought. Entrapta had mentioned before that it would be months before they returned, and the idea of that time weighed on him. What if he wasn't able to contact her when she arrived, given Micah's increasing efforts to locate him?

He stood and headed to the door. It was time to act. He flung it open, and there, shocked to see him, was his little brother.

"Hello, Hordak," he began, waving a little. "I was just about to knock."

"We are going to find the makers' community," Hordak replied. "Gather your belongings."

"That's the thing." He gestured behind Hordak. "May I?"

Hordak narrowed his eyes and stepped aside, letting him into the room.

"So, Perfuma has been, uh…" he began, looking around at the room and nervously poking one of the broad-leafed plants. "She has been called away. Apparently, something is going on at Brightmoon and all the Princesses have been summoned. She suggests that, just in case, we should probably head to the clone city."

"Micah is at Brightmoon," Hordak muttered, rubbing his chin. "This could have been a valuable opportunity otherwise." He shook his head. "No, we will spend the next few days gathering information on the makers' community and then we will approach them for their assistance."

"Yes, about that," his brother began, turning. "Any clone that is found outside of the clone city needs to be verified, personally, by King Micah. He's paused his investigation inside of the clone city because there are just… too many of us, apparently."

Hordak considered this. There was no reason he couldn't research these engineers while remaining hidden. If Micah caught him, the chance he would attain his goal fell to almost nothing. "Very well, little brother. We will head for this clone city. But I expect your full cooperation going forwards."

"Undoubtedly!" He stepped over and offered a hand. "We're in this together."

Hordak scanned his face and found him earnest. He took his hand for one firm shake.

"Also, you don't have to call me little brother. That might get confusing once we meet more clones."

"I am _not_ calling you Wrong Hordak."

"I don't have any other name," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Hordak frowned and headed for the door. "Then I suppose we must find you one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for sticking it out for another chapter! This time, I've drawn Eluda and Defect. You can get this art early if you join the discord!
> 
> ELUDA  
> https://i.imgur.com/ToACWle.png
> 
> DEFECT  
> https://i.imgur.com/Z0SK420.png


	11. CHAPTER VIII: Mildew and Smoke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and subsequent chapters are possible with the help of tahlia (https://www.wattpad.com/user/tahliahliahlia), Livv (https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dammit_Hawke), and Snowboy, my beta readers. Thanks, everyone!

"You know where this is?"

"Hey, get out of my face. I don't want trouble."

Adora groaned and rolled up the poster again. She'd heard dozens of variations of this in the few minutes since they'd finished dinner, and now the hundreds of greenish streetlights began to flicker on around them. They were rapidly running out of daylight and they were sort of falling apart. Scorpia had tried to help but ended up scaring people off, and Glimmer and Catra were running on fumes.

"Maybe we should stop asking random people on the street, Adora," Glimmer suggested, stifling another yawn.

"If we can't find a place to sleep that's nearby, half of us won't be able to use our translators." She handed the poster to Bow. "That's not a risk I'm going to take."

"You're asking normal people." Catra had mentioned this several times before. "You need to ask criminals."

"I'm _trying_ to ask criminals! _Everyone_ looks like a criminal!" Adora returned, ignoring a few sidelong glances from passersby.

Catra sighed, throwing her head back. "I have to do everything. What's the place called, Bow?"

"The Grey Tunnel."

Catra scanned the street, scowling. As soon as the sun set, the streets began to empty, but there were still teeming crowds and rumbling vehicles. She gestured for everyone to stop and headed into a back alley. Small pocket marketplaces were built into broken walls and hollowed-out, decaying buildings, and overhead, a string of dim yellow-green lights glowed in a line. People sneered and she sneered back. Finally, something more her speed.

She found two men sitting on a porch to some condemned building, smoking something, both armed. One was wearing dark glasses and the other had an entirely mechanical arm. These were the shady people that wouldn't be strolling through a commercial district in the late evening. "Hey, burnouts," she said, stalking over. "I got money to put on clones. You know where the Grey Tunnel is?"

They looked at each other and the one with the arm started laughing. "Get out of here, kid. Before you get hurt."

She smirked. _Don't jinx it._ "What, you don't think I have the money?"

A few other strangers cast unsure looks in their direction as the one with the mechanical arm stood up. "Why don't you tell us how much you have."

"Two hundred thousand," she replied, pulling a big number from thin air.

The two looked at each other and the other took his glasses off, rising to stand behind the one with the arm. His pupils were bright white - yet more technological weirdness, undoubtedly. "We can take you there. Give us half."

She shook her head and walked up to the one with the arm. In a smooth motion, she extended her claws and tore through the steel of his wrist, sending his hand flying into the air. They were both dumbstruck as Catra put a hand out and caught the prosthetic as it fell. "I could give you nothing, and you lead me there anyway."

After a shocked second, the now-handless one took a step back and the other whipped out a dagger from somewhere inside his sleeve. She grabbed the attacking hand and closed her claws around it. He shouted in pain and dropped the knife. It was too easy after years of fighting real threats. "Is this all?" she said, leaning into the inflection. "I'm not supposed to play rough with kids."

The now-handless one made a move, but Catra drove a knee into his gut and he fell over, the breath knocked out of him. "Stop," the other one said, still in her grip. "I'll give you directions. Just leave."

"I think I'll need a bit more help than that."

She dragged him by the wrist out of the alleyway and, upon finding the rest of the crew, tossed him in Adora's general direction. "There's your guide," she said, folding her arms.

"Who - what?" Adora stammered as the man fell to the ground in front of her before quickly clambering to his feet.

"He knows where the Grey Tunnel is." She tossed Entrapta the mechanical hand. "And I thought you'd like this."

Entrapta made some sort of excited squeaking noise and caught it with her hair. "Is it functional? It looks like it's functional!"

"Well, who knows," Catra replied, "now that it's off the guy."

After some hesitation on everyone's part, they followed the stranger off of a main road and through a network of twisted alleyways, then across another main road, and further and further into the city. Catra stayed close to Adora, turning every so often to glance at Bella, who was following a brief distance behind them. Her smile hadn't faded.

Finally, he led them to a massive metallic half-pipe structure, easily several stories wide as well as tall. The sky above it was clear of walkways and hovering vehicles, and small buildings were crammed together along its sides, made of old wood and sheet metal. Down the center, a long strip of stagnant, still water ran untouched into the horizon in both directions. "It's down to the right," he stammered, pointing with his unscratched hand.

Adora looked over. There, in the distance, lit by dim lanterns, the half-pipe structure opened up to a few cracks in the wall, and posters and dim screens were plastered all around them. "Alright," she muttered, feeling that determination start to tense her up again. "Thank you."

"Get out of here," Catra said, kicking him away. He stumbled and ran off. "You don't have to thank these people. At the very least, they're muggers."

"It's always worth it to be nicer than you need to," Bow jumped in.

"You -" Catra stopped herself and peered at him. "That can be your job."

Bow smiled and folded his arms. "Deal."

* * *

The hostel was a block from the half-pipe structure, a tall, thin, run-down building held up by beams of shining metal. Shops around it glowed in the night with cluttered signage, and even after dark it was loud with distant traffic and shouting. It smelled like mildew and smoke, and felt like it had been the same for hundreds of years.

Adora marched right in and up to the counter. "We want to sleep here."

The woman behind the counter blinked. "Yes, I'm sure you do. Would you like two double rooms or three?"

"Uh…" Adora glanced back at Glimmer and Bella.

Catra hovered near the lobby's back wall, her arms folded. The day was beginning to wear on her. She hadn't slept more than an hour or two in the last thirty. To make matters worse, Bella had so far done nothing wrong. So far. It was going to be difficult to sleep with her in the room. Maybe she'd ordered the crew to follow them with the knockout gas. She hadn't seen any of them while looking around over the day, but they could have been disguised.

She rubbed her face with her hands. Some part of her, moved easily by the worries of Adora and Glimmer, was telling her she was being paranoid.

Then, her heart dropped into her stomach.

For a second, she couldn't tell why. A terrible restlessness stopped her breathing and her pulse skyrocketed. She took her hands away from her face. They were shaking. In the cool greenish light of the sparse lobby, she saw it, and an enormous pressure ballooned inside her skull. There was blood under her claws.

The scent hit the back of her throat and she shuddered, struggling to inhale. All of a sudden, the memory of that sound echoed in her head, that tearing noise. Her claws digging into flesh. She needed to leave. Now. Now.

Without even a glance at everyone else, she wandered into the hallway, shivering like it was cold. Her breathing was slow and ragged. As though the scent had opened a portal, old emotions came storming into her body with monstrous force. The hollow delight in front of the Sea Gate… the dull horror from behind the mask of Horde Prime. The tang of blood. The sound.

"Catra?"

She gasped and turned around, her vision clearing. Scorpia was standing at the end of the hallway. Her recognition didn't change anything. "Go away," she managed, turning her back.

Scorpia didn't listen. She approached quietly, hesitating at first before placing a pincer gently on her shoulder. "What's going on?"

"Stop," she said, pulling away. She heard the weakness in her voice. Reality was still swimming. "I'm fine."

"You're shaking," Scorpia said, her voice low. "Did something happen?" When Catra didn't respond, she looked back at the lobby room. Glimmer had turned around and was staring, concerned. Melog, who had alerted them, was still wavering, walking in an unsteady circle in the lobby, hardly the size of a loaf of bread. Scorpia waved a little, then turned back to Catra, mulling over what she could say. After a moment, she decided to say nothing.

Another round of shaking. Catra didn't turn around, but stood there in silence, allowing Scorpia's claw on her shoulder. Words sat in her mouth. There were things she should say but couldn't, there were things she shouldn't say but would if she could. The thoughts became tangled in her mind, and no matter how much she tried to speak, she simply stood there in silence as her breathing rattled her body. Most pressingly, she was struck with the sudden and intense desire to go home.

"Breathe," Scorpia said, kneeling next to her, keeping in contact.

The word brought the habit back and she took a difficult breath. She hadn't noticed until then how impossible it had been to inhale. Her heart didn't slow, but her head cleared a little as the air filled her. Breathe. One more, deep and measured. She still felt her limbs shaking as she turned a little. "C-could you… g-get something so I can w-wash my hands? Please?"

"You got it." She stood. "I'm gonna get the others, okay?"

The image of Adora shouting in pain tore through her mind. "No," she said quickly. "Just g-give me a minute."

Scorpia glanced back at Glimmer, who was motioning a lot. Everyone else had also started to look into the hallway. Bella stood at attention, inexpressive. "Alright," she said. "Be right back, okay?"

Catra put off the urge to sink to the floor and leaned against the wall, holding her arms uncomfortably at her sides, flexing her fists as her heart thudded and shuddered. She looked away from the light, staring at the floor. The thoughts tore at her again. She could feel the way her body had moved towards Adora no matter how she struggled against it. The way her claws reached out - she could feel it, feel her muscles moving, like it was happening.

"Catra," she heard. It made her jump and she whipped around to see literally every other member of the crew there, all of them looking on with grave concern. Adora was at the front, of course, and reached out to touch her shoulder. "Are you -"

"I'm fine," Catra replied, bristling at her touch. Her voice sparked a new wave of panic, and she took a deep breath, closing her hands into tight fists.

"We've got rooms," Glimmer offered. "Maybe you need to lay down. I need to lay down," she added, as though to mitigate her suggestion.

"Two rooms," Adora added quickly. "One with two doubles and one with one double." She stopped as Catra folded her arms, covering both her hands. With a concerned glance at everyone else, she put an arm around her shoulders. Her eyes widened a little and she leaned in to whisper: "Catra, you're shaking."

Again, Catra tensed, but let it happen. "Yeah, I know, thanks," she said, mustering the will to sound sarcastic.

"Hey, everyone," Scorpia said, squeezing by Entrapta. "Our rooms are on the next floor." She handed a wet rag to Catra, who took it carefully and started to wipe her hands off - once, then again, then again, then again. "In case -"

"Would you all stop? I'm fine!" Catra cried, pulling away from Adora. "Let's just get our stuff together and go break up your clone fight or whatever."

On their way upstairs, Adora fell back, taking Catra by the hand. The twitching had mostly stopped once they'd started moving, but she was stiff as stone, resistant to touch. Her hand was cold. "I want you to stay back," Adora said quietly, turning to her. She was hoping for a little eye contact, but Catra was staring down at the stairs. "Get some sleep for me."

Catra didn't reply for a moment, but stopped on the mid-level landing as the others headed up the next flight. She saw Scorpia cast a final worried look down at them and disappear into the second floor. "... What happened to taking some time for ourselves?" Catra asked.

Adora got the eye contact she was looking for and carefully took her other hand. "It's been a little hectic. We had _some_ time to ourselves, though. We pulled that off."

"Adora…" Catra sighed, putting a hand to her head as though in pain. "I want _years_."

Adora froze a little as Catra looked back up at her, a few tears spilling onto her cheeks. She felt her chest tighten and pulled her into an embrace. "You'll have them. We'll have them."

Catra kept her arms tight to her body, her fists closed. After a moment, she carefully reached up to wipe at her eyes and let her hands fall gently onto Adora's back, though she refused to open them. Her heart hadn't slowed and it was making her head hurt. But it was mostly over now. She felt Adora move in for a kiss, first the jaw, then the cheek, then the lips. "Sorry," she murmured.

"What are you sorry for?"

"I don't know."

Adora grimaced. Part of her felt uncomfortable seeing her like this. Over the last few weeks, Catra had been more open than she'd been since they were kids. She didn't deserve the stitches she had to take. But she had to take them. And because of that, another part of her felt almost relieved. But it was all blanketed by a resounding love. When she'd noticed Catra was shaking, she ached, and that ache hadn't yet gone away.

"It's the claws," Catra said. Her voice broke a little.

She stayed close, running a hand down her upper arm. "What about your claws?"

Catra stared for a moment, her brow knitted. She opened her mouth as though to respond, but couldn't quite find the words.

With a small smile, Adora reached Catra's hand and took it, opening it gently and clasping it. "I love every part of you," she said quietly.

Catra felt a shadow of a smile. "Sap," she replied.

"You know it." Adora motioned up the stairs with a nod. "Come on. Get some rest. Tomorrow, I want to talk to you, okay?"

Catra headed up the stairs behind her, and a dark doubt crossed her mind. As she entered the room and started to fall back into a conversation and organize their gear and normalize, her heart still hammered away. Not even Adora could alleviate this. So what could?

* * *

Glimmer took a moment to lean on the dresser as they did one final sweep of their gear. They'd decided against leaving it on the ship, because although Darla's security was well-designed, a thief could simply leave the ship unopposed. If a thief tried to steal from their room, they could at least chase them down. It was one of dozens of little conversations they had to have to navigate this situation they'd put themselves in.

And, of course, she was tired. She hadn't slept in about a full day by this point. Bella took her leave, saying she would meet them in the morning, but that she didn't require sleep and had business to attend to. They'd decided everyone staying back was going to group into the room with two double beds to keep close, though they hadn't put together who was staying back yet. She had a sinking feeling she wouldn't be much help in this state.

"I'll stick around," Scorpia suggested as they got ready to go. "I'm not too tired. You're gonna need someone to stay up and keep watch until you get back."

"Thanks," Adora replied. "So we have Bow, Glimmer, and me going. Everyone else is going to stay here, right?"

Glimmer turned, prepared to explain herself, but Entrapta approached first, her visor down. "I'd like to go, too," she said quietly. "I'm not much of a fighter, but I've got this," she added, slipping a white square, about a foot on each side, from one of her bags using her hair. "It's one of the gravity regulating tiles from the Outpost. I borrowed it."

"Entrapta," Adora began, closing her eyes for a second, "you can't steal tech."

"I borrowed it," Entrapta repeated, and flipped it over. "I modified it. This is how the Outpost was able to create vertical hallways. Each tile creates about ten feet of terrestrial gravity in front of it." She lifted her visor, pointing to the backside of the tile, which was covered in small buttons and wires. "I actually turned into a sort of shield. You can hold it here, on the holder thing, and there are two buttons. One attracts, one repels, about as strong as normal gravity does." She offered it to Adora.

"Oh, I… don't think I'm going to need a shield," Adora said apologetically, waving her hands. "She-Ra is pretty tough."

"I can't use a shield, or I would definitely use your shield," Bow added. "You know… two-handed weapon and all."

"Ah," Entrapta said. "I can use it myself, I guess."

Bow and Adora looked at one another. "You're sure you want to come along?" Bow asked.

Entrapta's excited smile fell a little. "I do."

"Glimmer, does that sound good?"

"Right, so," Glimmer began. "I might have to sit this one out. I haven't slept in a long time, and magic takes focus." She stepped over and pulled Adora and Bow into a brief hug. "Sorry, guys. Be careful."

Bow kept a hand on her shoulder as she pulled away. "We're always careful, aren't we? We'll be back soon. Maybe an hour or so."

With a single nod, Adora glanced around at the crew. It felt as though they'd finally begun. It would take time and effort, but they would help Automa. She turned to look across the room at Catra, who had sat on the bed further from the door, her arms folded, looking out the small single-paned window at the glowing city street below. It struck her that she might want to be alone, and so she managed a tepid "Bye, everyone," before heading back out into the hallway.

The streets had cooled, though not significantly, in the nighttime. The crowds had mostly dispersed; in fact, there were only a handful of people still outdoors. Adora stayed perceptive as she walked, but she felt her attention pulled away.

Bow must have noticed, and somehow instantly found the problem. "What do you think we should do about Catra?"

Adora came to a stop. The question had impacted her harder than she thought it would. Bow and Entrapta stopped as well, turning back towards her with some surprise. "I don't know what's wrong," she said, looking at the ground. "I can't help her if I don't know what's wrong."

"Of course you can," Bow replied. "We'll figure it out together. Right?" The question was a real one. He was worried as well; his reservations had virtually all faded, and Catra had become a close friend. Something in the back of his mind, the part of his brain that constantly strived to keep everyone safe and together, told him that this thing with Catra wouldn't be the last of it, and that worried him most of all.

Adora stepped forwards to embrace Bow and kept it for a few long moments. Bow hugged back. Briefly, it eased their worry, and after a couple seconds, they felt Entrapta join cautiously as well.

"Hey, you three," they heard from nearby. They separated to see a large man dressed in some sort of fitted uniform, armed with some sort of short rifle. A badge glowed with greenish light on his chest. "It's past curfew. Do you have your identification?"

"Curfew?" Bow muttered.

She couldn't tell exactly where it came from, but a tickling anger rose up in Adora's chest. "We weren't told about a curfew," she said, pointing to the translator in her ear. "We're new around here."

"The curfew starts two hours after dark," the man (officer?) replied. "You'll need to be processed."

"No," Adora said.

"What?"

Adora folded her arms. "No."

"I'm not going to use force," the officer said, tapping his rifle against his palm. "But if you refuse, you'll have to be arrested. And if you resist arrest, I'm going to use force."

Adora kicked him in the stomach.

Bow and Entrapta stared as the man doubled over, staggering and falling. It was sudden and surprisingly powerful. They looked at one another, unsure of exactly what to do. "Adora!" Bow managed after a second. "That guy's some sort of official! He has a badge!"

Adora kicked his weapon away as he struggled to sit up and then kneeled over him to knock him out. Standard Horde training - concussive jaw strike. She blinked and turned around. "What?"

"Adora!" Bow put his hands to the sides of his head.

"Oh. No, it's fine," Adora replied, standing up. "I didn't hurt him much. Look, we have things to do, and we don't have time for being processed."

"What if you're wanted now?" Bow cried. "What if we have bounty hunters coming after us?"

"Tell me how that's going to be a problem for us and then I'll consider apologizing." She headed over and patted him on the shoulder. "Let's get going."

"What happened to _careful?_ " Bow hissed, hurrying away from the unconscious man.

Adora whipped around, scowling. "You heard what Bella said. These fights can be deadly. People might be dying right now and we can stop it. If that guy arrested us, we wouldn't be able to stop it. Stay focused."

Bow followed, keeping a hand near his weapon. This group had always been trial-by-fire, and he had a feeling the fire was coming sooner rather than later.

* * *

Holding Facilities were wretched. They were one of the few things the rich and powerful couldn't escape; if you were held in a Facility, it was going to be miserable every minute of every day. Each building was a block of stone and metal, windowless, poorly ventilated, the walls thicker than two people back to back. And it was dark.

Lancer had some experience here. He spent a couple months in a Holding Facility a few years after he arrived in Isora. As the days had passed, they'd drilled into him, the noise and spite and desperation weighing on him little by little. Returning was unpleasant, to say the least. The smell hit him first - old sweat and dust, mildew and smoke.

They processed him quickly, given his prior record, and locked down his mechanical hand before dragging him to his cell. For a few minutes after they left him alone, he felt a gnawing anxiety. There was no telling how long he would actually be kept here. Bella could have it arranged that he stayed in confinement for the rest of his life. Maybe that was her plan all along. He hoped he'd shown his worth.

The cell was small and poorly-lit, containing a plank to sit on and a toilet and nothing else. He lay down, feeling the exhaustion of the previous night begin to set in. With a glance at his locked left hand, he turned onto his side and tried to sleep.

Dreams, perhaps only daydreams, came in waves. When he was hardly a young adult, Horde Prime began to raze his planet. There was some suspicion of rebellion or something of the sort. He couldn't remember. All he remembered was the mad scramble to leave the star system.

Hours passed as he recalled snippets of it all. First, he'd lost his mother and father. They were put on a different transport ship. Then, his older sister, separated in the chaos when they arrived on the first planet they attempted to take refuge on. Then, Mattia, closer than family. He remembered their falling out, the horror and panic that kept them both from making sense. Lancer had left him behind on Eridani.

Automa was not the new start he'd wanted. It was filthy and angry, a wound of a planet. As though startled out of sleep, he sat up, remembering his first few weeks; how many hours had it been since the cell door closed? He sighed and rubbed his face with his functioning hand.

" _We can run all our lives,"_ Mattia had said. " _You can't run from being human."_ And it had stuck, exactly like Mattia had intended. Sometimes it kept him from sleep.

The cell door opening startled him. He must have been drifting off again; time meant very little in the Facilities. He looked over and stood instinctively as Ordnance Commander Bella, still in her Outpost uniform, ducked into the cell.

"Well," she began, stepping closer to emphasize their height difference. She removed Tyl's controller from her pocket and held it in one steady hand. "It appears as though you may still have value to me."

"Yes, Ordnance Commander," he intoned, and saluted.

"Now, we likely cannot proceed with force, given my current resources. I plan to attain more in the coming weeks, but at the moment, I am considering a far simpler and perhaps far easier plan." She stepped back, pacing towards the open cell door. "You will be managing it."

"Ma'am?"

"I have determined this group is easily fragmented and prone to extreme bouts of emotion. It should be simple to use this." She turned with a certain hungry smile. "I've already begun, of course. The leader, Queen Glimmer, has a tenuous grasp on her leadership. The spy, Catra, is weak and prone to spite. Destroy the group, retrieve the materials they are using to search for this new form of energy, and capitalize on it."

Lancer stood at attention, silent. So it began. "I have a request," he said.

Bella turned. It was obvious when she was repressing her anger, at least after several years of working under her.

"After this, I need a starship. And I never want to be bothered again."

She chuckled. "You should reconsider your value to me," she said lowly. "I come to you because I can control you. It is out of ease and nothing else."

"I don't believe you," Lancer replied. "I think you know that I'm a decent tactician and good at getting myself out of tight situations. And I think it would be too much time and effort to find someone who was more loyal to you than me."

"Worm," she growled, suddenly grabbing his neck right below his jaw. She effortlessly lifted him into the air as he struggled to breathe. "Mind your station. As for your loyalty, I have it locked down." She lifted her other hand to show him the remote. "If you dare to cross me, I will turn the pain setting as high as it can go and I will lock you in a box and leave the remote outside. And then I will find a superior minion."

He struggled against the cold woody flesh of her forearm and she tossed him unceremoniously to the ground.

"Now," she said, closing her eyes. He almost smirked; it still wasn't too difficult to get under her skin. "Let us discuss pertinent details."

"Let's."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _**Note:**_ The reason I have Scorpia distinctly older than the rest of the crew is due to some canon math. I intentionally put her at the older end of the possible range of results (22-27), mostly because it's funny. However, I've been alerted to the fact that this makes her crush on Catra early in the canon sort of uncomfortable. Fortunately, I only referenced this once and the reference will be removed or altered for the second draft (which will occur at the end of the Automa arc, and then the fic will continue.)
> 
> Thanks again for catching up! The reason this chapter was a little slow, besides its rather sensitive and difficult nature, was because I have been completely obsessed with drawing lately. As such, below are the two canon sketches I've created in the meantime. Next update soon!
> 
> S:CR ADORA SHEET  
> https://i.imgur.com/6n1fe8E.png
> 
> HORDAK & WRONG HORDAK SHENANIGANS  
> https://i.imgur.com/m84FSXx.png


	12. CHAPTER IX: Shrinking Feeling

Adora approached the crack in the wall with a singularity of purpose. She hadn't felt so directed in weeks. In the buzzing greenish glow of the nearby streetlights, she could see two figures in dark clothing standing shoulder-to-shoulder inside, one Aquarian man, one human woman. They watched as she approached.

"Doors closed half an hour ago."

"For the honor of Grayskull."

"What?"

About twenty feet away, Bow watched as She-Ra appeared in a flash of light and proceeded to toss the bouncers unceremoniously into the still water sitting at the bottom of the massive half-pipe. He prepared his bow and glanced at Entrapta. "So we'll stay back. She-Ra's got this. We'll just support from… a distance."

Entrapta held her makeshift shield out with her hair, staring determined up at the entrance. She nodded once.

If Bow had a blind spot, it would be Entrapta. She was particular. She spoke in a particular way, she was particular about being touched. He'd figured out how to talk to everyone else, but Entrapta, despite their friendship, was still hard to read sometimes.

"You guys coming?" Adora called.

"Right! My bad!" Bow hurried up the short flight of stairs to the crack on the wall, and Entrapta followed close behind.

The crack opened up into a hallway ending with a heavy steel door. As they entered, the dulled sounds of a raucous crowd became apparent. Bow had nocked a net arrow and drew the string, holding it down, staying close to the ground. Adora did not share his caution and sliced the door in two, kicking it off its hinges.

With a booming thud, the two halves of the door hit the ground, steaming from the energy it took to separate them. Bow took note of the room immediately: there were dozens, maybe a hundred people sat along rows around a rectangular pit, and eight automatons stood in pairs in each corner of the room. There were two other doors, both on the opposite wall, and a handful of individuals who had the air of being in charge or otherwise very important. The room fell quiet after a few seconds when everyone had realized what was happening.

Adora registered most of this, but subconsciously. There was clamor, shouting, people removing knives and pistols from vests and jackets, and the robots turned laser sights on Adora. She-Ra easily batted the attacks away, pushing through the crowd, barrelling through them with the flat of her sword.

"Bouncer bots!" Entrapta shouted, as one targeted Bow. She leapt over and held up her shield just in time to deflect the laser.

Bow followed up with a sharp arrow, aiming for where the automaton's most important bits would probably be. "Did you come up with that just now?"

"It's obvious! They're bouncers and bots!"

"It's alliterative. I like it." Bow aimed across the room and took out another one.

In the meantime, Entrapta leapt from the highest walkway to the second highest, pressing a button on the back of her shield. It made a screeching mechanical noise and a swath of bystanders - some guards, some not - wavered, falling to their knees or backing up. "Cover me!" she shouted up to Bow.

"What? Okay!" Bow took out the last robot in the corner and hurried to the walkway railing, keeping a net arrow aimed around Entrapta. But the upper walkway was far from clear. As Bow had his back turned, two women with short knives rushed him from behind, and he was just able to catch the first attack with his bow. The second one was able to take a sizable cut from his leg, and he shouted. "Adora!"

Adora heard him, and nearly didn't turn around. Her scowl was fixed firmly on the handful of guards surrounding a well-dressed man with a mechanical plate on the side of his head. But she regained her senses and whipped around, firing a beam from the tip of her sword in one smooth motion at one of the attackers. "Stick together!" she shouted, batting away another belligerent. "Where's Entrapta?"

"On your left!"

Adora turned to see Entrapta wrapping someone with her hair and tossing him into the pit below. It wasn't a deadly fall, but it was enough to incapacitate him for a few minutes. She blinked in surprise, then someone shot some sort of plasma or something at her and she reflexively smacked it away.

She slipped back into She-Ra like putting on a familiar dress. The line between her and She-Ra, while transformed, was broad and fuzzy. She was always there, always moving, always deciding, but She-Ra was there, too, holding her hand through it. It wasn't just her body that she guided, either. It was something else, some part of her consciousness that She-Ra was able to hone and clarify. As though instinctually, she had formed a plan as soon as she'd entered the room.

The attackers began to back away as it became obvious they didn't have the firepower to deal with her. She stepped onto the railing and leapt across the pit, landing across the room in front of the crowd of guards and the well-dressed man.

Entrapta had charged around the outside of the pit, using her gravity shield and her hair to knock people away, and Bow was just able to keep people from her flank, but the woman with the knife was becoming a hassle. While he pushed her off with the solid part of his bow, Entrapta was suddenly surrounded.

At her shriek, Adora turned, but the guards she'd approached jumped her, and she turned her sword to strike them away from her in a broad arc. In the seconds that she did, one of the bouncers lifted Entrapta off the ground by her hair and, despite her struggle, lashed her across the back with what looked like a section of a pipe. Another bodyguard lifted a small firearm to her head.

"Entrapta!" Adora shouted, and slashed the air. An iridescent arc shot from where she did, flying towards the guard with the gun. It struck him and sent him slamming heavily against the walkway wall, his pistol flying into the air. Entrapta was still struggling against the bigger guard's grasp, but Adora had become preoccupied again with keeping her own attackers down without killing them.

Bow managed to produce a net arrow and entangle his own assailant, then turned to take aim at the one on Entrapta, taking out his last nonlethal arrow - the taser.

But right as he fired, the large guard tossed Entrapta suddenly into the pit and his heart leapt into his throat. The arrow made contact, and the guard screamed and fell to his knees, but Entrapta had already landed on the sandy ground below, directly on her face. "Adora! They threw her into -"

"I got it!" Adora shouted back, then turned. Entrapta had begun to struggle to stand, which meant she couldn't be too badly hurt, so she returned to the guards, sending a concussive beam of light at one preparing a weapon in the back and punching another square in the jaw.

Bow frowned and hopped down to the second walkway then into the pit, rolling forwards. "Are you okay?" he called, hurrying over to Entrapta.

She rose to her knees, her face smeared with blood. It looked like she'd broken her nose. "Ah," she replied, touching her cheek and wincing. "I'm not as okay as I was a second ago."

Bow frowned and glanced over at the injured guard that had fallen in earlier, then noticed with a pang that the sand near the back of the pit was already wet with blood.

Adora was laser-focused again, and grabbed the last guard by the shirt, launching him into the back wall. "You," she said, pointing the sword at the well-dressed man.

"And who do you think _you_ are?" the man replied, folding his legs. He seemed distressingly blase.

She scowled and approached him. "I'm She-Ra. Princess of Power."

He snorted. He still had a wisp of dark hair on one side of his head, despite his skull modification, and had a soft, smug face. "And why are you breaking up my game?"

"Because you told me about it," she growled, taking out the rolled-up poster and showing it to him, before balling it up and tossing it over her shoulder. "Bad idea to advertise murder."

The man looked up at her with an infuriating condescension. "You've just made things very difficult for yourself. You know who I work for?"

"I don't care who you work for." She stepped up to him, leaning down to meet him face-to-face. "And you can tell your boss that this will happen again, and again, and again. You can try all you want, but you can't stop me."

"You should stop and think about whether clone lives are worth the mess you've gotten yourse-"

She interrupted him with a right hook, sending him flying out of his chair.

With this, she looked around at the arena. People had mostly fled. Those who hadn't, hired by or otherwise loyal to the operation, were all incapacitated, unconscious, or unwilling to fight. She counted twenty-two down. It had happened so fast that she hadn't taken a very good look at who she was punching.

"Is that everyone?" Bow called up from the pit.

Adora stepped over the unconscious and injured bodyguards to the railing. "Looks like it. The civilians cleared out, too."

Entrapta winced, tearing up at the pain. "Where - where are the clones?" she asked.

"Right. That's step two."

Adora hopped down and knelt next to Entrapta. "Sorry about that. It got hectic. My, um… my plan wasn't very good." She closed her eyes and put her hands to Entrapta's face, feeling the radiant feeling of restoration travelling down her arms.

"Yeah, what's the deal?" Bow added, trying not to sound accusative and only partly succeeding. "You've been really headstrong about this all day."

"Well, what else was I supposed to do? People were going to die!"

" _Talk_ to us!" Bow cried, shocked more than upset. "Are you kidding?"

Adora blanked as she looked at him. "You're - you're completely right," she said. "I just… I got caught up in everything. It's been a really weird couple days."

Her body language was a little different as She-Ra, but Bow saw the tension in her shoulders. "You know you can rely on us. If you've got a problem, you have to let us know. You can't just… stampede into stuff like this." He put a hand on her back. "It's dangerous."

"I know," she sighed. The memory of feeling Catra trembling as she placed a hand on her shoulder burned in her mind, and for a moment, she felt She-Ra fade, then return. That ethereal clarity welled in her, too briefly, before she was back to herself. "Let's finish up here."

They stood and Adora headed over to a door on the shorter wall of the rectangular pit, cutting it open. There was a guard there with a taser stick, but Adora mindlessly clocked him in the face, sending him spiraling against the back wall. In She-Ra's glow, she saw stairs leading to a circular room of barred cells, and in the back of the cells, silhouettes in the shadows, were dozens of figures.

Entrapta wandered in before she could stop her. She looked around at the cells, wiping the blood off her face with the back of her glove, her expression unreadable.

_Of course,_ Bow thought. Entrapta had a soft spot for Hordak and Wrong Hordak for a reason. She was the first among them to notice their humanity. Though, with the way she was fighting, that couldn't be all that was going on.

Adora walked to the bottom of the stairs and stopped, watching Entrapta. She headed around the room and quickly broke through the digital locks keeping them in their cells one by one, then returned to the center of the room, looking around wordlessly as the cell doors opened.

Bow almost approached, prepared to defend Entrapta if anything went wrong, but Adora stopped him. "Hold on," she said, gesturing.

The clones began to file out cautiously. Some ran past Bow and Adora, saying nothing and bolting for the ladder on the side of the pit. Some stood awkwardly, looking between one another. One, an older one with longer hair, was badly wounded along the chest and left arm, bound in bloodsoaked bandages. Only that one decided to speak. "Thank you," he said.

Bow's eyes widened as he saw Entrapta turn to the speaking clone and noticed tears falling down her cheeks. "Don't mention it," she said. "Just - get as far away from here as you can, okay? And if you need something just… find us." She put a hand to her neck, struck by some stray thought. "And stay safe."

The one who spoke knelt and offered a hand, and Entrapta took his elbow with a small smile.

"I don't get it," Bow whispered.

Adora turned with a crooked eyebrow. "Come on."

Bow stared for a second, then realized. "... Oh! Really?" He put his bow back over his shoulder, remembering the last time he spoke to Glimmer about Hordak. "That's… not good."

"No, it isn't. But, then again, in a way…" Adora smiled.

The clones filed past them. Some thanked them, but most were silent. After healing the most wounded one, Adora took note of some of their scars and modifications and scowled. This had already gone on too long, and there was still plenty of work to do. Against how potentially vast the horrors of this unfamiliar planet could be, suddenly, she was so small.

Eventually, they exited as casually as they'd entered, leaving the wounded and bound behind, guiding the younger and more nervous clones out in a group. From the ground, the well-dressed man watched.

When they were gone, she raised a hand to her head and shifted out of the disguise. The posh criminal boss whose face she stole was going to feel worse in the morning, but still… what a slaughter. If She-Ra had hit the other side of her head, the game would have been up immediately, and she'd have to remember the whole Lancer story Bella had fed her.

"Report," she said into her wrist holo-pad, standing and wiping the blood off her lip. "You're not gonna like this, Ordnance Commander. Or maybe you will."

* * *

_Her mind has become a vast and empty space. There is nothing near her but an infinite whiteness stretching for impossible lengths in every direction. She has no body._

_And yet there are flashes of it. She feels herself moving and hears voices and, from time to time, understands what's going on. "You broke my heart," she says, though she doesn't. "But he has made it whole again."_

_A touch, a shock - and she sees Adora before her, kneeling. There's just enough time to make eye contact before she returns to the void. Motion, impact, pain, and then the sensation returns, spreading through her like a poison: her claws digging into flesh. It's fast, but she feels it, and the smell of blood hits the back of her throat. "Everything is already okay," she hears herself lie, distantly. "We are with Prime now."_

She gasped, the sudden sensation of wakefulness bringing her down as the seconds passed. Her hand was on a warm shoulder, and she was sweating terribly. Cool wind from nearby set her fur standing on end, but her heart slowed and steadied as she curled up closer to her.

Then, another wave of realization. That wasn't her. She opened her eyes fully and sat up, clicking her tongue as she realized what was happening. Glimmer. She must have dozed off next to her.

"Everything alright, Catra?"

Scorpia, in the other bed, was sitting up and watching the city street through the window, but had looked over when Catra woke. "Are they back yet?" she asked lowly, her lack of sleep catching up to her.

Scorpia frowned. "It's only been twenty minutes."

"Twenty -" Catra stopped herself and sighed. She joined Scorpia in looking out the window between them. Her chest was sore, and her heart was still a little erratic. She felt herself breathing deeply, as though yawning.

"Nightmares?" Scorpia asked quietly.

Catra pulled her legs to her chest. "Nightmares," she confirmed, hardly a whisper.

"I don't dream much anymore. But I used to. I had nightmares all the time as a kid. Night terrors, I guess." She turned again to the window. "And Scylla - that was mom number two - she always calmed me down by singing."*

She felt a smirk. "Don't sing for me."

"No, no, I - I can't remember it very well anyway. Just half the melody, really." She glanced over, folding her claws together in her lap. "... Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't want to _remember_ it."

"Right. My fault."

Catra took another slow, calming breath. "You've never mentioned your moms," she offered tentatively. "What happened to them?"

"Oh, you know," Scorpia replied, following with a short, somber sigh. "War. I was… I must have been six or seven, so I don't remember exactly what happened, but one day they were there, and the next day, they were gone."

As far as Catra could remember, Scorpia's voice had never been so cheerless. Never once. It shook her, and she slid off the bed, stepping over to sit next to Scorpia. "I… never knew my parents, either. I just had Shadow Weaver." She scowled as the memories flashed through her mind, but felt her cheeks tense.

Scorpia found the courage to steal a long look down at her. For so long, she was larger than life, and suddenly she was so small. She felt herself flush, but pushed the feeling aside and offered a gentle side hug. Briefly, Catra tensed, then leaned into it. This was something Scorpia had thought about, despite herself.

"You know," Catra began, leaning her head against Scorpia's side, "it sucks."

"What does?"

"All of it." Catra sighed and her ears fell a little. "It should have never happened."

"Well," Scorpia ventured, "if it didn't, we might not be friends."

Catra didn't reply for a moment. Then, she reached around Scorpia's back to return the hug. "That's true."

This was what it must be like. As Catra parted wordlessly and curled into a ball at the foot of the bed, Scorpia was suddenly awash in those invasive daydreams. It was so easy to imagine: the setting and the situation changed, but the one consistent image was Catra looking up at her with that certain look and saying _I love you_.

And yet, as she glanced over at Catra and watched her breathing steady, as she let herself indulge in the idea, she noticed something. In her head, Catra's voice was not quite Catra's voice. There was a softer quality to it that Catra had never expressed. The words were the same, but realizing the strangeness in her tone simply confused Scorpia. And yet… _I love you_. It wasn't fading anytime soon.

Melog shifted into view, about the size of a toddler, sitting on the other bed. She hopped quietly to the floor and padded over to Scorpia, rubbing her leg and making that somewhat alien meow.

"Hey, Melog," Scorpia said, keeping her voice to a whisper. She reached down and mindfully picked Melog up, sitting her on her lap. "You okay? You seemed a little wobbly earlier."

Melog simply meowed and nuzzled against Scorpia, curling into a ball herself.

"I wish I could understand you," Scorpia replied with a small smile.

She shifted a little and leaned against the headboard, keeping Melog on her lap and setting a gentle claw against her. After a few minutes, she turned to stare over at Glimmer, just a little dark shape outside of the light from the window. _It should have never happened_ , Catra had said. That wasn't quite right. It could have happened differently, but she wouldn't give up the present for the world.

It was another twenty minutes before the door clicked open. Scorpia sat up, relieved as Adora entered from the dimly-lit hallway, followed by Bow and Entrapta with her visor down. Catra also woke, and clambered to her feet, almost falling off the bed. "Adora," she breathed, stepping over for a long, deep embrace.

Bow placed his bow on their pile of gear next to the dresser, a little exhausted. "Everything's alright, Scorpia?"

"Everything's fine," Scorpia replied as Melog rose and stepped off her lap, vanishing. "Did it go okay? No one's hurt?"

"Yeah, it went… well, it _went_ ," Bow replied with a morose chuckle. "It's complicated. But we _did_ stop the clone fight, and that was the goal."

"Bow?" Glimmer had sat up across the room, rubbing her face weakly.

As Bow and Glimmer and Adora and Catra fell into quiet conversation, Entrapta sat on the end of Scorpia's bed, her visor still down. Scorpia understood and scooted over next to her. "You did good," she offered quietly.

Entrapta lifted her visor. Her eyes and cheeks were still a shade red. "I know we did. I'm glad we did." She sighed a little and pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "I should sleep."

Bow lay down beside Glimmer, already feeling his eyelids heavy. He hadn't slept much either the night before, and it all caught up with him at once. "Did it all go well?" Glimmer asked, laying a hand on his chest, only half-awake.

He smiled down at her. "It went perfectly."

Glimmer reached up to draw a thumb along his cheek and smiled back. She shifted and drew him in for a quiet kiss, light but lasting, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Night."

He pulled her a little closer and closed his eyes. "Love you," he murmured.

"Love you too."

Adora and Catra, after their embrace and their intimated concerns, turned to see the beds full. "I guess we're in the other room," Catra said, picking the key up from the dresser.

Adora reached up to stroke the base of her ear, saying nothing but giving a soft smile.

"No, not - not -" Catra stammered, glancing over to Scorpia and Entrapta, who had just managed to get comfortable in the same bed. "Not tonight," she whispered.

"Right," Adora replied, her smile falling a little. "Sorry."

Catra snickered and leaned in to lay a gentle kiss against her neck. "You're cute."

The second room was far smaller than the first, placed at the corner next to the stairwell. The one window was broken and boarded except for a small panel, leaving the room dark. Catra's eyes adjusted and she led Adora to the bed, taking her jacket for her.

She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Adora had almost shrunk, holding her upper arms as though cold. She blanked immediately. Adora had a tendency to wear her heart on her sleeve, at least concerning most things. But Catra had no clue what this was about. She just stared for a moment, feeling herself flush with embarrassment as she failed to speak.

"Catra," Adora began, looking in her general direction in the dark room. "You know I love you, right?"

Catra felt herself weaken. "... Yeah."

The fur on her neck stood up as Adora's voice broke a little. "I care so much about you," she said, and put her head down.

She practically sprinted to the bed, pulling Adora to her feet and into a hug. Adora returned it twice as tight. "What happened?" Catra asked quickly. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just worried." Her voice was still weak and Catra felt tears against her neck.

Catra caught herself before asking what she was worried about. She had a feeling she knew the answer and would rather not hear it. Instead, she stood and held her, reading her body language. Suddenly she was so small. After a few moments, longer - maybe a minute - she felt Melog curl against their legs, grown to about three feet long.

Adora separated slowly and looked down at Melog, her eyes still wet. "When I'm She-Ra," she began, breaking the silence, "I'm… focused. Especially when I'm fighting. And she's - she's so old, and so wise. She's seen so much." In the little light in the room, she was able to meet Catra's eyes. "For a couple seconds, it was clear, and then it went away, and all I remember is that I need to do whatever I can to help you."

At that, Catra felt herself bristle. "I'm fine," she replied. "I told you I'm fine. You have to start listening to me."

Beneath them, Melog growled, and subtly but perceptibly, Adora shrank back.

Catra flushed. "I'm -" She stopped herself. "You're getting protective of me," she finished, bringing a hand up to touch her cheek.

Adora laughed a strained laugh, a few tears falling down her face. "Maybe we both need to sleep."

"Maybe." Catra leaned in, her kiss long and slow and, hopefully, calming. She rarely kept so still. Every time Adora had tried, she pulled her closer, wanting to avoid the boring placation of a tender kiss. But this one felt right. "Sorry," she added as they separated.

"It's okay," Adora murmured offhand, and Catra reached up to gently undo her ponytail.

As they lay down, Catra stared. In the darkness, Adora had closed her eyes, but kept a firm, warm hand on Catra's upper arm. A shade of a smile, almost a relieved smile, played at the edges of her lips. Her beautiful, heroic fool. After a moment, she shifted, guiding Adora's hand around her.

Adora pulled her a little closer. "I thought I was never the big spoon."

"Don't make a thing out of it."

Then, her grip suddenly doubled, and the room lit with a bright glow, illuminating the peeling wallpaper and the discolored crown molding. Catra flushed, feeling herself melt into Adora, feeling a tension she didn't know was there slip away, feeling that lethargy she'd been ignoring gradually return. And in She-Ra's embrace, suddenly, she was so small.

Melog appeared at the foot of the bed, padding over and curling up between the two of them. It allowed her a few more seconds of wakefulness, and she whispered: "It's still you in there, right? Adora?"

Adora pressed her lips to Catra's neck and she felt her smile. "I'm not going to share you."

As the phrase reverberated in her mind, Catra drifted off, joining Adora and Bow and Glimmer and Entrapta in a much-needed rest. Scorpia was the only one still awake, staring at the ceiling, her face tight and burning pink. Entrapta had fallen asleep with an arm wrapped tightly around her and Scorpia was not sure what to do about it.

"Come on, Scorpia," she murmured to herself, batting away the daydreams one by one. "This is getting ridiculous."

* * *

She waved goodbye to the farmers on the outskirts of town. As always, when heading to Bright Moon, she left just before dawn, right when the grain and vine farmers woke and began their first chores. After all, the walk was about six hours. To avoid waking anyone else, she made her way unceremoniously out of the village with a basket under her arm full of fruits and bread for lunch (and anyone she might meet along the way).

As she walked, she took the time to stay mindful of her body. Feeling herself move, unhurried, brought her a great sense of internal stillness and helped her center herself for the day. And what a day it was going to be.

First, there was Hordak to think about. It had been a sudden paradigm shift for her. One second, she was quietly, peacefully managing Plumeria, listening to the suggestions of her people, taking refugees, helping fields blossom with a touch of magic. The next second, the most wanted man in the world was essentially staying in her basement.

Initially, she had thought about contacting King Micah. Bright Moon had been good to her and she considered herself loyal. But Micah was not the same man now that he was when her mother had been Princess. And in Hordak, she thought she saw some sort of softness, an element of humanity that perhaps Entrapta had also seen in him.

In the middle of her thoughts, she paused by an old apple tree, grown serendipitously at the edge of a small clearing. The woods were lit by the soft light of sunrise and she took a moment to clear her mind and feel the sun. "Ah, precious," she murmured, placing a gentle hand on the tree. "You've seen so much. Wise, beautiful, precious."

An apple, ripened with magic, began to weigh its branch down until it came to a stop right in front of Perfuma. "Thank you," she said, plucking it gratefully, and reached down to help a few daisies blossom around the tree's roots. She placed the apple into her basket and smiled down at it, heading further into the forest.

Second, there were her friends to think about. They left so soon. It wasn't unwise, per se, just… thoughtless. They hadn't considered the near future, and she worried daily for each of them. They needed to unwind more than they had.

And, of course, it was Scorpia she worried about most of all. In-between the bouts of bright, cheerful excitement, she'd noticed that there was something weighing on her. She thought maybe it was some effect of her being influenced by Horde Prime, but in the brief time between their victory and their departure, she couldn't get Scorpia alone even once, and thinking about that failure made her soul feel constricted.

She paused as she passed a rough, mossy crag, feeling that constriction once again. It helped to feel oneself making a noise - bodily awareness. She hummed and sat in the cool, tall grass, putting her hands together. _Had_ she truly tried to speak to her alone? Surely she could have if she put more effort into it. But she hadn't.

Slowly, she became aware that her humming was being encroached upon by another, similar noise. Some sort of machine, and it was growing louder. She stood and looked around, frowning. There hadn't been a machine in the Whispering Woods since the Horde was destroyed.

Then, out of the early-morning shadows in the distance, a shiny metal vehicle of some kind - Horde in design? - burst into view. She shrieked and instinctively ducked behind the nearest tree. Then, she remembered: magic. With a steadying breath, she stood, calling the moss around her to rise behind her in a sheet.

The vehicle was stopped, idling in front of her, hovering about a foot above the ground. On it, a familiar face sporting a sharp grin. "Hey, gorgeous. Need a ride?"

"D-" She paused, forgetting their name for a moment. The moss behind her fell back to blanket the rocky ground. "Double Trouble?"

"The one and only, I imagine." They turned and leaned against the hovercycle's handlebars. "What are you doing out here so early? Have a date with a pumpkin?"

She flushed, mostly because she wasn't expecting to talk to anyone for several more hours. "No," she replied, defensive. "I could ask you the same thing."

"No, you couldn't," Double Trouble replied with a cheeky smile. "I don't date pumpkins." They glanced down at her basket and put a hand to their chin. "Tell you what. You make me a nice lunch, and I take you to Bright Moon Castle. I haven't eaten in a few days."

"How did you -"

"Oh, don't insult me," they interrupted, offering a hand. "You know I'm on top of every sliver of drama that goes on in your silly little kingdoms. It's a hobby."

Perfuma hesitated, then her brain caught up to the conversation. "Wait, I don't eat meat."

Double Trouble smiled and tapped their sharp carnivore teeth. "You'll have to figure something out."

She frowned. Perhaps it wasn't too kind, but she didn't trust Double Trouble. This smacked of ulterior motive. And yet she did give people the benefit of the doubt when she had the privilege to. She cautiously took their hand.

Moments later, they were hurtling through the forest at an unconscionable speed. She hadn't realized she was screaming until Double Trouble told her to stop.

"Shouldn't we have helmets?!" she cried, partly to stop screaming.

"I only had so much time. You know I'm not the only one looting the Fright Zone." Double Trouble took a sharp left and Perfuma fell forwards, hanging onto their torso for her life. "The place is completely deserted now except for scavengers."

Perfuma didn't reply. The Fright Zone had become unrecognizable, overgrown with luscious greenery that might even rival Plumeria's. And no one was around to see it.

Double Trouble glanced back at her with an opaque smirk. "Something on your mind, Flower Girl?"

She flushed. "It's - it's nothing," she called over the rushing wind. No one had called her that since Huntara.

Double Trouble just crooked an eyebrow and turned back. "Whatever you say."

The ride felt like it took thirty seconds and also four hours. When they came to a harsh stop just outside of Bright Moon Castle, it was still before noon, and well before she needed to be there. And her hair was a mess. But it's the thought that counts.

She hummed a little and, still wobbly from the ride, stepped carefully off the hovercycle. "Thank you," she said with the best smile she could muster. "I - I think I can talk to the staff here about lunch, if…"

Double Trouble hopped off the vehicle, flipping the key in the air and catching it in a pocket on their outfit that Perfuma hadn't noticed before. "That's what I want to hear."

* * *

The halls were empty. Often, there was a guard posted, at least two at every major station. But there wasn't a soul in sight now. Her footsteps were quiet, but still the only sound in the building other than the distant churning of the Bright Moon waterfall. In any other situation, this might have been peaceful; given the circumstances, it was only eerie.

On her way to the Meeting Hall, she heard a low muttering in a dimly-lit room nearby. Micah. She stepped carefully over, thinking maybe the meeting had started early. But then she heard what he was saying.

"... down to the clone refugee city. A hundred and twenty troops. There's a curfew on clones now, too." He paused. "Every day I do something new, something I know I shouldn't do. I don't know what to tell you some days. I want to hide things." In his voice was an enormous weight, the ochre tone of a person with little left to lose.

He stood with his back to the doorway, alone, hardly a silhouette in the dull bluish light. For a moment, Perfuma considered backing off and taking the long way around to the Meeting Hall. Then she realized what was happening.

"You'll be a better ruler than me," Micah continued, his voice still low, though lighter. "I'm stepping down when you return. And I hope these are reaching you," he added. Perfuma could see something glowing dimly in front of him. "I love you, baby girl. Please be safe."

For a moment, he stood still and put his head down. Then, the light in front of him flickered off, leaving him standing in the semidarkness. Then: "Good morning, Perfuma. You're early."

She jumped and clutched her hands to her chest. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt, or - or listen in, I was just on my way -"

Micah turned. His hair was still well-kept and he offered a familiar, friendly smile, but there was a discordance to him. "No, don't worry. You're always welcome here."

Perfuma held her wrist, hesitant. Perhaps she shouldn't bring it up, but… Micah needed some words. "For what it's worth, King Micah, I know they'll come home safe."

"Just Micah," he replied, his smile softening. "We haven't spoken much, have we? I was king back when your mother was still the Heart-Blossom Princess." He looked off into a corner of the room, somewhat wistful, then his expression sharpened. "I've had a… difficult few weeks."

Perfuma approached cautiously and placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, but said nothing.

He looked back at the device he'd been speaking into. It looked to be some sort of screen, a rough blend of First Ones and Horde technology, though this was an area in which Perfuma was admittedly inexperienced. "For years," he murmured, "I wanted to come home and see my wife and daughter." He stopped, placing a hand on the device. "I saw my daughter. I never saw my wife again."

Perfuma was struck by the way he moved as he stepped away, pacing mechanically towards the door. "There is some part of me that wants to stop this. I shouldn't overturn my kingdom to find one evil man. But another part of me…" He spoke delicately, his voice weak. "Another part of me is hollow and aching. There is a profundity in a half-empty bed."

When the wave of empathy left her, she felt a chill go down her spine. Hordak. Surely… he hadn't arranged for her to arrive early. It must be a coincidence. She froze where she was, staring at the back of his long, decorative royal robe. Suddenly, she was so small.

He shook his head as though to clear it. "I'm sorry, Princess. I haven't had many people to talk to lately." He adjusted his robe and turned again towards her. "Have you eaten yet? I don't mean to be rude."

"O-oh," Perfuma stammered, loathe to speak. "I - I'm..." She looked down at her basket and noticed the fresh apple among the rest of her lunch. Micah may have changed, but not enough to ambush her. She approached and offered it to him. "Have _you_ eaten yet?"

His smile grew a little. "I always remember breakfast. Tend to forget lunch, though." He took it gratefully. "We can eat in the War Room, if you like."

As they turned to leave, Double Trouble was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. "Morning, your highness."

"Ah, good. Double Trouble. You're early as well." He frowned. "I assume you haven't been getting up to any shenanigans."

"Not for free." They smirked, folding their arms. "Now what's all this about aliens?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * _**This Is Canon.**_ Scorpia had two moms. It is canon.
> 
> Thanks for keeping up with the fic! Unfortunately, since I've expanded to a writing collective project as well, I haven't created any more S:CR canon art (though I have made plenty of unrelated She-Ra art). When said writing collective boots up, I'll let you all know! It's an extended canon about the domestic life of Catra and Adora a few years down the line.


	13. CHAPTER X: Lockjaw

There was an implacable pressure in Mundara. The buildings were clustered and claustrophobic, jutting out in messy stacks from the worn earth. People swarmed along the streets and on the walkways above as railways and hovercrafts blotted out the little sun that might reach the ground. The Jellar Republic, mostly underwater, seemed still and open as outer space, comparatively.

At around one in the morning, Daeza awoke to a call on her holo-pad. Eluda had invited her a few blocks away from the hotel they'd found to a bar hidden deep in a box of tenements and storefronts. There, the pressure grew.

As she pushed through the crowd, ignoring the noise and the smells and the smoke with no clear source, she saw her sitting towards the end of the bar, a single seat free next to her. A flat blue-yellow bruise shone on her jaw in the greenish light.

"Oh, hey," Eluda began as she approached. She'd been drinking, and there was a full glass in front of her. "You got my memo."

"Of course I did. But I was still sleeping."

Eluda snorted and pushed a shotglass with a violet liquid in it over to her. "It's too early to go to bed. I got your favorite, lockjaw whiskey."

"I'm not drinking." She sat in the empty seat next to her. "We're on duty. And I'm pretty sure I'm in trouble. We should keep our heads clear."

Eluda stared for a moment, picked up the shotglass, and dropped the entire thing into her drink, tossing it back. She looked away as she placed the glass heavily on the bartop. "It was just a thought."

She was struck by a sudden worry. "It didn't go badly, did it?"

"Only for my face." Eluda turned back and looked down at her. "You went out and got civilian wear? You really _are_ deserting, huh."

"That's why I'm pretty sure I'm in trouble."

"No, I'm just saying, it's - you look -" She stopped herself, rubbing the seam between her skull mod and the rest of her head. That was only something she did when she was nervous, and she realized vaguely she hadn't done it in years. "Anyway, it was a total slaughter."

"It _what?_ "

"No, not literally," Eluda added quickly. "No one died. That was the weirdest part. Like, the girl - you know, the one who transforms - she burst into the room already big and shiny and just tore through all these goons, knocked weapons out of hands, actually jumped across the big hole in the floor to get to me. And they didn't kill a single person."

Daeza leaned a little onto the bartop. She was right about her initial assumption. They were kids. They were innocent, even naive. And yet, when it came down to combat, they were competent - hypercompetent. Bella wasn't going to be able to brute force her way through them, fortunately… though that meant she would be trying something else, possibly something worse.

"What's your obsession with these aliens?"

She blanked as she realized Eluda was addressing her. "What?"

"You're tagging around to make sure I don't hurt 'em. You're deserting your post to do it. What's the deal?"

It occurred to her how much time these strangers were spending in her head. And yet, for all that time, she never quite figured out why she was so compelled. "You know… I'm not sure." She paused and looked back at the open door, leading out into the cluttered block court. "So, how'd the jaw happen?"

"Oh, man." Eluda turned, crossing her legs. "One shot. Pow, to the face. I flip through the air, land on the ground, right on the jaw. Now, I'm stuck trying to look unconscious, so I don't wince, I don't anything. I'm already pretty sure my jaw's broken, then the worst part."

"Hm?"

"They go downstairs to free the clones or whatever, right? And, like…" She gestured. "You know how the tall girl is magical or something? I didn't want her realizing I wasn't unconscious when she came back. So for five minutes I was just stuck there, lying on my stupid, bleeding face." She laughed, and Daeza laughed along with her. "Anyway."

"Maybe you should get that checked out. She doesn't want you to do anything tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, but, you know, doctors. Why would I spend money on something that's going to be fine if I just don't touch it for two months?"

Daeza shook her head with a little scoff and smiled. "... What's the next job she gave you?"

"A couple days from now, I'm stealing something from them. No details yet. But I figure I should start tracking them as soon as I can, pick up on the way they work." She sighed and took another drink. "Then it's back to the Outpost."

Daeza turned away a little, brushing a hand through her hair. The Off-World Corps was just about all Eluda had left. They'd spoken at length about it before, years ago, back before they'd fractured and broken and started to slide back together. Back before she knew as much about her. "Why'd you invite me out here so early in the morning?"

"You need to loosen up," Eluda replied, running a finger along the rim of her glass. "And maybe you're more pleasant to talk to when you're tipsy."

She almost smiled at that. It had become a sort of inside joke, though the subtext had grown sour. Daeza tended to open up while drinking, and Eluda had made fun of her for it. Since they'd grown apart - _because_ they'd grown apart - the teasing brought back uncomfortable, painful memories. "Well," she replied after a few moments, "I'm cutting you off. Let's get you back to your room."

"Come on. One drink."

Daeza pulled her off the chair and started to push back through the crowd, dragging her along.

"Hey, hey!" Eluda shouted behind her as they stumbled out into the street. "That's not necessary. I just thought you might want to have a good night for the first time in eighty years. _Excuse_ me." She sighed and tugged at her uniform to adjust it. Daeza had always been stubborn. "I was done anyway."

"I know."

On the way back, Eluda found herself lapsing into simple conversation with Daeza again. It was easy, being a little drunk. They talked about the last time they'd been to Sector 6. Eluda mentioned that she always got the grossest, greasiest fried street food whenever she was on leave, as a tradition, and Daeza made fun of her air-breather cuisine. Though there was a spark gone from it. For months, it had been like that. Some small sliver of their conversation, suddenly unexciting, obligatory.

But it shoved her back into that headspace anyway. They reached the hotel soon after and lowered their voices as they entered the elevator. "Not that it's known for its good food," Daeza was saying. "The best thing I had was a normal sandwich while watching the streetlights go on from the top of the Allkeep Tower. And it wasn't the _sandwich_ that I liked."

Eluda snickered and leaned against the back wall of the elevator. "It's a date, Chum."

Before she could realize what she said, Daeza stiffened. As soon as she saw, she stood straight, halfway between nervous and apologetic. After a tense second, Daeza frowned and folded her arms. "Don't call me that."

All of a sudden, Eluda realized how close they were and she felt herself light up like fireworks. Her body's decision, not her brain's. Her brain was still too hazy to stop it. "... Right."

And her body continued to work on its own. Their eyes met, she leaned forwards, their noses barely brushed by one another, and they fell into a kiss.

Daeza's mind swam. The moment before had almost completely gone away. The only thing that remained was hearing her say that stupid nickname again, and the kiss. As the tickling warmth spread from her face down her body, years of baggage vanished. Years of words were suddenly un-spoken. And then she felt a cool gloved hand on her jaw and it all came swinging back like a punch to the gut.

The gentle hand pushing her away came as something of a surprise to Eluda. She kept her eye closed for a moment as Daeza began to speak. "We… need to talk a lot more before… _if_ …"

"That's not what it felt like a second ago," Eluda replied lowly.

"You can't hold me to that, okay? The last few days have been abnormal. I'm - I'm -" She stopped herself, starting to scowl in that way Eluda recognized was at herself.

Eluda brought her hand up to Daeza's upper arm again and felt a daft smile as she leaned a little closer. "C'mon, Chum, I just need to relax a little -"

Suddenly, a sharp, knifing pain to the side of her face and she reeled, stepping backwards. Daeza had jammed two fingers into her bruised jaw. She stood, shocked, unmoving, as Daeza recovered, her scowl now fully turned on Eluda. "That's why," she growled, and stepped out of the elevator as it arrived at their floor.

The doors closed before she felt able to move again. She put her hands on her face, the pain still pulsing through her jaw, and leaned against the back of the elevator again. "Stupid," she muttered. "Stupid, stupid. What are you thinking."

They each headed to their rooms without catching sight of one another for the rest of the night. Eluda paced a little and stared at the ceiling as she lay down on the single bed, going over it in her head. The feelings caused nothing but trouble, and she didn't need them. She would stay at arm's length. Or further. And as her thoughts churned, in the room across the hall, Daeza allowed herself to slip into memories as she fell into a dreamless sleep.

" _Why 'Chum'?"_

" _That's what we feed fish."_

" _That's like me calling you Donut or something."_

" _Call me 'Donut or something' then, goofball."_

* * *

Adora opened the door quietly. It was still early in the morning, and she left Catra curled up, asleep. Downstairs, she found a breakfast of unrecognizable food waiting in a communal dining hall, and brought up a bunch of little boxes and parcels, unable to read them. "Catra?" she began. "You awake?"

But the room was empty. She frowned, then leaned back out of the door. "Entrapta, did Catra leave?"

"Nope." Entrapta had already been up when she awoke, and was sitting in the hallway between their two rooms, working on something on her little portable setup. Entrapta generally wasn't one to wake up early. But it had been a tumultuous few days.

She glanced around the room. "You hiding?" she whispered, shutting the door behind her. Then she saw it - the boards over the window had been taken off. She shook her head and set the tray down on the foot of the bed. "Back to the usual, I guess," she murmured, opening the window with some effort and turning to look up. There, she saw the hint of a tail hanging from the edge of the roof a few stories above her.

It was muscle memory, if a distant one. She clambered up the windowsills and the jutting machinery, hopping from one to the next. They'd been doing it since they were kids. When she hoisted herself to the roof, Catra glanced over with a faint smile. The burgeoning sunlight gave her a certain glow, and she couldn't help but smile back. "I figured you'd be curled into your little ball."

"I'm watching the sun -" Catra blinked. "My what?"

"You know, how you curl up and wrap your tail around you." Adora's eyes widened as it became clear Catra didn't know what she was talking about. "Are you kidding?"

"No - hey! What are you saying I do?" But Adora was already laughing. "Adora!"

"Here," she said, still laughing, and pulled her legs to her chest. "Like that."

Catra's face went from perturbed to blank to gradual realization. "I _do_ do that."

"A lot," Adora added, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I guess I've got all of the brains today. You can have them tomorrow."

"You wish, dummy. I'll probably have to stop you from falling into a pothole before the day's out." Catra reciprocated, pulling Adora closer.

Adora watched sidelong as Catra stared out at the city skyline, her eyes gleaming, her tail coming to rest gently against Adora's back. A light wind drifted by, ruffling her thin coat, and that perfect ecstasy shot through Adora. She leaned in a little bit and kissed the base of her ear. "Good morning."

Catra leaned onto Adora's shoulder and Adora could feel her purring. They sat and imbibed the moment. "... So, oh mighty hero. What's the plan today?"

"Mm, bring magic back to the universe. I figure it'll take most of the morning."

Catra snorted and her giggle quickly turned into peals of laughter. She fell back on the tiled, slightly slanted roof, pulling Adora with her, and Adora couldn't help but start to laugh along.

"That one really got you, huh?"

Her only reply was another laugh and a cool look, and then she gripped the collar of Adora's jacket and pulled her in for a forceful, energetic kiss - back to the usual. She could feel Catra smile as she moved to her neck, cradling Adora's head with her other hand. The barrage of kisses was familiar, Catra's comfortable default. It was making what she needed to say just a little more difficult.

But she let it happen for a minute or two, reaching around Catra's back to pull her a little closer. In a way, it never seemed real. Part of her, a deeply-buried part of her, always expected her to turn out to be a First Ones hologram or maybe a particularly potent dream. The feeling faded sometimes and returned in force later, and this morning, it had returned. She held Catra a little tighter as though to anchor her to reality.

"I guess I should stop sometime," Catra murmured, nuzzling lazily into her neck. Adora learned early that she used her hands to kiss, constantly active, moving one down her side or up her arm or along her jaw.

"Sometime," Adora replied with a chuckle. She brushed a hand carefully through her hair. It had started to grow back out. "I have breakfast back in the room. I think."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I can't read." She felt herself break into another smile and guided Catra up for a gentle kiss. As always, Catra leaned into it a little too much, but she expected it. After a brief, tender moment, she steeled herself and pulled away. "And I said yesterday, um… that I wanted to talk to you today. Maybe it's bad timing, but…"

Like she expected, Catra froze and looked away.

"You better not be about to tell me it's nothing."

"I just don't want to talk about it, Adora. I don't even want to _remember_ it." Catra sat back, unconsciously clenching one of her hands into a fist. Her ears had flattened. "I want -" She stopped, scowling in a way that Adora recognized was at herself.

"It's okay," Adora offered quickly, putting a delicate hand on her fist. "I just - I worry, you know? What if it happens when we're fighting or something?" When Catra didn't respond, Adora reached up to stroke her cheek, and after a minute, Catra leaned into it, closing her eyes. "At some point, we have to talk it out… right?" She sighed. "I wish I knew what I was doing."

"I wish you knew what you were doing, too," Catra replied with a little smirk, showing a fang.

Adora laughed. "Don't bully me," she said, leaning in for one last early-morning kiss. For the moment, she filed the topic away. Perhaps it was just a bad day, and now that she was rested and less worried, it wouldn't happen again. Time would tell. And, meanwhile, she would breathe this love in like air.

* * *

Glimmer had awoken to a rush of energy. The morning air was crisp, her head was clear, Bow said good morning with a kiss, and it was going to be a good day. She managed to get everyone together in the lobby, and was glad to see everyone else seemed refreshed as she was. Entrapta was fascinated by the tiny containers that the complimentary breakfast was kept in, Catra and Adora were being particularly mushy, and Scorpia and Bow had gotten to joking around again. The crew was alright.

"So!" she said, slapping her hands on the table they were sitting around. "We're back to business. We know more about the planet. We know more about the laws and customs. And now we're going to start exploring."

"Yes!" Bow cried, doing that sort of claw-fist-bump thing with Scorpia. "Let's get it done!"

"And I've got a plan! I thought about it a little yesterday, but when I woke up, it was all there. You know how we're meeting up with politicians tomorrow? Well, today, we do some preliminary stuff. We fly in Darla in a circle around the city, we check for magic while we do it, and we talk about what we're going to say the whole time." She pointed. "Adora, we'll need your notes. And I'll -"

"I don't know about that," Entrapta said, staring at her holo-pad.

Glimmer blinked. "Wh-what? You don't know about what?"

"The plan."

"What's wrong with the plan?" Glimmer asked, putting a hand on her hip. It was a good plan.

"Oh, nothing. I just might have figured out how to access Automa's satellite network to expand the capabilities of Darla's magitech search by an extra two hundred miles."

Glimmer glanced between the rest of the crew members. "Really?"

"And the crystal data, too. For the transponder-translators. Should I call them transpondlaters?"

"Are you serious?" Bow interjected, his eyes widening.

"Do I not… sound serious?"

"No, no! That's great!" Bow darted over to peek at the holo-pad. "How'd you do it?"

"That's _how_ many times the range?" Glimmer asked, also heading over to look at the holo-pad (though she didn't understand any of it). "That'll cut down on our travel time by… weeks."

"More!" Entrapta chirped. She drew a finger across the holo-pad, revealing a small graphic of the planet with little dots all over it. "Currently, this reduces our search from almost two years to just months, and if I can connect to other satellite networks, we can cut it _to_ weeks instead of _by_ weeks!"

"Fantastic work, Entrapta," Glimmer said. Maybe it would be easier than she thought.

Entrapta adjusted the screen again to show what looked like a grey aerial map. "And that's not all. In that radius around us, I've detected four possible magical signals. Two to the south, one along the coast in the north, and one further inland to the east."

Glimmer gasped. "Already? Nearby?"

"I should warn you they're not _necessarily_ the magic we're -"

"New plan!" Glimmer cried, pulling everyone nearby into a half-huddle. "We're taking 'em all on at once!"

"At once?" Adora asked. "We're splitting up?"

"We break into pairs and take each of the three furthest ones, then we meet up at the one in the middle." Glimmer hurried back across the table to where she was before. The plan was coming quickly and easily now. It was invigorating.

"Alright," Catra replied, reaching an arm around Adora. "Which one are we going to?"

"Nope," Glimmer said, putting her hands on your hips. "You two are going to get distracted."

"What? No!" Catra shrieked, flushing. Adora just laughed nervously.

"And Bow and I would get distracted, and Entrapta and Scorpia would get _very_ distracted. Just in a different way."

Scorpia was peering at Entrapta's holo-pad. They both looked up at the same time, hearing their names.

Glimmer thought for a second, rubbing her chin as Catra tried to argue and Scorpia tried to gather anything she'd missed from Bow. Each team would need one focused member, and each team would need to be balanced for combat just in case. She brightened as she put it together. "Right. Bow and Catra. Adora and Scorpia. And me and Entrapta."

"Oh, great," Catra scoffed, folding her arms. "You call me cute once and I'm leaving you in a gutter."

"Ah, have you all developed a plan for the day?"

They all turned towards the hallway. Bella towered over them, and not one of them had noticed her approach. Catra scowled, but Glimmer spoke before she could. "We have, Ordnance Commander. We should be back tomorrow early in the morning, or even tonight."

"Very good," Bella replied with that slight, off-center smile. It was as though she never wore another expression. "It would be unwise to be late to the meeting called on your behalf."

"Don't worry," Glimmer replied. "We'll be there."

"Oh, and I thought you might need this," she added, handing Adora a piece of fabric. She opened it to reveal that it was an oversized beige hood, sort of like half a rainjacket. "There were some city guards outside enquiring after you, specifically. It would behoove you to keep a low profile, I believe."

"City guards?" Glimmer asked, peering over at Adora.

Adora already pulled the hood on. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it. And thank you, Ordnance Commander, I didn't, uh… think about it."

"City guards?" Glimmer repeated, folding her arms.

"Okay, I may have… you know, assaulted one, but -"

"Adora! We have things to do!"

"It made sense at the time!"

"We already did this," Bow sighed, folding his arms as well and leaning back in his chair.

Bella bowed slightly, not losing her smile. "I am here to serve. Your meeting is tomorrow starting at noon. I will meet you outside the Great Hall here in Sector 6. Do you need directions?"

"Nope! We got a map!" Entrapta declared cheerily.

Bella's smile grew subtly. "Excellent. Then I will take my leave. Have a productive day."

They watched her leave. As soon as she was out the door, Catra yanked the hood off Adora's head and reached out to hand it to Entrapta. "Check this for microphones and trackers." She paused. "Uh, please."

As Entrapta cautiously took the hood, Adora stood and walked over to Entrapta, looking down at the holo-pad. "So, where are we going?"

Bow copied the map to his own tracker pad and Entrapta let Adora borrow one of her holo-pads and they were geared up and driven and ready to go, and it felt like the first time since they'd arrived that they knew exactly what they were doing. The Super Best Friend Squad was back in action.

* * *

"That seemed unnecessary."

The statement seemed so detached from anything relevant that it stunned Hordak for a solid two seconds. "What are you blathering about?"

"I'm not blathering," his little brother replied, gesturing with the hand that wasn't holding the basket of fruit. "I'm saying that you didn't have to knock her out."

"She heard your rambling," Hordak grumbled as he pulled her out of the clearing. Susan had a strike function that he'd been as of yet unable to use. It worked wonders, of course. "I do not know what sorts of technology Micah has provided his guards, and it was safer to eliminate her than risk her calling for backup."

"I could have just come talk to her. I'm not Hordak. I'm - currently figuring out what else I might be."

Hordak frowned. "That sounds like it would have been a waste of several minutes."

His little brother sighed. "Did you like Frank?"

"... No."

"I've been thinking about Mister Whirlwind."

Hordak sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. They'd been walking from Plumeria to the clone city for a day already, keeping to the forest. However, the city had been established at the edge of the Flower Plains, so when they arrived later that afternoon, they would have to cut across about half a mile of open space.

"I have heard the name Jennifer in passing."

"For one hour!" he snapped, whipping around. "One hour, I would like to walk in silence!"

He was so used to people shrinking before him that he was somewhat shocked that his little brother did not. "If you want me to have a different name, I have to think out loud about it. It's the best way to come up with new ideas. And you really shouldn't shout at me," he added, putting a hand on his hip.

Hordak glared. His little brother glared back. After a moment, he turned and stalked off into the forest. The city was close. One more step towards his goal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slightly shorter chapter, but I realized this next section would require its own chapter. Thanks for reading! I've completed one additional piece of S:CR canon art based on a poll in the discord server. You can find it below. Next chapter soon!
> 
> FAILURE AT JOVASKA  
> https://i.imgur.com/Zx6PLBO.png


	14. CHAPTER XI: Small Steps

With an earth-shaking thud, Darla landed next to the sidewalk. The vehicles nearby started honking and squeaking and a bunch of people stopped to stare, but Entrapta was already on board without a second thought. Even with this absolute maelstrom of new technology, Darla was familiar and Entrapta ran a hand along her hallway wall as she practically skipped up to the dashboard. She and Glimmer were heading to the furthest potential signal, so they got to use the ship while everyone else tried out the trains and vehicles. She was almost a little jealous.

But she couldn't feel too bad. "Darla, initial diagnostics!" she called cheerfully, brightening as the dashboard lit up. Glimmer was out exchanging the trade goods they brought for local currency as she booted up the ship.

"Current thulite crystal at 36% capacity," Darla intoned. They had a couple more, of course, though depending on how long they were here, she might have to look into arcanolithine. "No mechanical errors detected. One unopened transmission."

"Play," Entrapta said absentmindedly, running a separate test on temperature and artificial gravity.

Darla beeped and her nano-sphere appeared. Then, a familiar voice, cloaked in static: "Glimmer. Hopefully, this time, the transmission works. I wa -"

"Stop!" Entrapta shrieked, whipping around to the door of the ship. Fortunately, no one was there. She could hear her heartbeat through her entire head. King Micah would have obviously found out what she did, and if Glimmer ever heard it… and yet, these were messages from her father.

She put her hands on her cheeks, thinking. It wasn't worth it. "Darla, save all transmissions to my personal transponder, please," she said, and returned to her work to avoid thinking about it.

In a few minutes, the airlock hissed open behind her and Glimmer walked in, adjusting her tiara a little. "Alright!" she said, clapping her hands. She walked over and showed Entrapta a handful of little slips of paper. "Each team gets a bunch of _these_ for the day. This is the currency they use. They call them 'marks,' and we have fifty here. At least… I think."

Entrapta looked over and nodded with a little smile.

Glimmer raised an eyebrow. "Is everything alright? The ship's fine?"

"Everything's fine!" Entrapta replied. "Coordinates are set, and… we're all good!"

She resisted the urge to slap her visor down when Glimmer narrowed her eyes a little. She wasn't buying it. Then, rather than anger, her expression shifted to something else. Melancholy? Guilt? Entrapta quickly launched the ship into the air and Glimmer yelped, grabbing onto the dashboard to avoid falling over. "Entrapta!"

"Sorry! I forgot."

Glimmer stood as Entrapta set Darla on autopilot, brushing out her little cape. It had been a long time since they'd spoken. During the few weeks they were traveling, they only spoke in a group, never alone together. Really, that was Glimmer's own fault. But she was better than that. She wasn't a nervous child anymore, and she could keep her emotions in check. _Queen Glimmer_. "Hey, uh… Entrapta?" she began, stepping up next to her.

Entrapta didn't respond for a second, then looked over, her lips a little tight.

"I should have said this earlier, but… the way I snapped at you back in Bright Moon, before we left. That wasn't okay. I apologize."

Of course, Entrapta didn't want to think about that. She'd intentionally not thought about it for weeks. It wasn't a nice thing to remember, and not just because Glimmer was a little sharp with her. Because it brought everything with Hordak and Catra and Glimmer back into focus. Without replying, she gave in to her compulsion to lower her visor. It was safer in there.

Glimmer felt a short frown coming on, a mixture of concerned and perturbed. She carefully reached out for Entrapta's shoulder, but Entrapta pulled away. "I'm - I'm trying to say I'm sorry, Entrapta," she offered with a nervous chuckle.

"It's alright," Entrapta replied lowly.

"Well," Glimmer said, "good. No hard feelings?" When Entrapta didn't respond again, Glimmer sighed. "It's not actually alright, is it?"

Entrapta's least favorite part of having so many friends was being put on the spot like this. It made her unable to think of words, including words to explain why she was so quiet.

"Look," Glimmer attempted, "I shouldn't have acted the way I did. But I don't know what else to… to do for you. Just tell me, and I'll try."

For a moment, she still couldn't find the words, and then they came all at once. "You didn't have to arrest him while I was still talking to him. He didn't even get to go to the party."

Glimmer felt that icy feeling return, the one that sat in her stomach and slowed her breathing. But she could control it. This was about Entrapta, not her. "I'm… sorry for that, too. But," she added, "even if he didn't hurt -" She stopped herself, feeling the ice melt away. "Even if he didn't hurt me personally, he was responsible for too much damage to walk around freely."

Buildings drifted by, casting languid, slow-moving shadows across the bridge. Entrapta was sent back to that night, to the celebration she couldn't enjoy, to that emptiness in her. "What about me?" she asked. "Why didn't you put me in jail? I made a lot of mistakes."

"Yeah, under his supervision! Under his direct command!" Glimmer said, her voice rising.

"And - and Catra -"

"Catra, too! Catra was a terrible person who did terrible things, but she still didn't wage war against the whole world! She didn't send my father to Beast Island for my entire childhood! And she didn't pull the switch!" she added, realizing that she was yelling now. She'd paced off into the bridge, feeling tears come to her eyes. _Not again_.

Then, her confident anger was fractured as she heard Entrapta squeak from behind her: "I love him."

She froze for a moment, two opposite thoughts slamming together in her mind. One thought - love. The other - _him_. She turned slowly as the conflict settled into a seething fury. "What?"

But Entrapta was staring at her, her visor up - serious, terrified, bright red. Completely earnest. And, again, that ice melted away. "And I miss him," she added, shrinking a little, her shoulders falling.

"You - he -" Glimmer stammered, caught between a scowl and shock. "What - what are you talking about?"

"Deep down," Entrapta continued, her voice low and thin, "he's worth it. He was just scared."

At that, Glimmer scoffed, bouncing back into anger. "I'm not listening to this. You don't start a war because you're scared. You start a war because you're an egomaniac."

Entrapta cast one more look over at Glimmer and turned back to the dashboard, flipping down her visor, falling silent once again. This time, it was because she had nothing more to say.

* * *

"Where you goin'?"

Bow and Catra had filed into the cramped back seat of one of the strange vehicles, with Melog invisible between them. After they'd seen a handful of native people waving down some of the vehicles and getting in, they figured they could do the same. They were correct. "Uh… I think we're going to…" Bow pulled out his tracker pad. "Scarce Street and Sixth Avenue?"

"That's about twenty minutes," the driver replied. He was a squat fellow with a strange hat but was mostly blocked by the divider between the front and back seats. "Watch the counter."

"The counter?"

Catra tapped on the little screen on the divider showing symbols.

"Right." Bow put his tracker pad in front of it: 0.5. "And this is in... marks?"

The driver turned slightly. "Where you two from?"

"Out of town," Catra replied, pressing a foot against the back of his seat. "You wanna drive?"

"Catra, don't be rude," Bow said quickly. "Sorry, sir."

Catra folded her legs and glanced flatly over at him. Once again, Bow was far too apologetic for her tastes. It sometimes rubbed her the wrong way - it felt as though he was faking it, even though he obviously wasn't. And then, on other days, she sort of needed it. "Let's summarize our plan," she said, leaning back. "We have no idea what we're looking for. We just have maybe a hundred square feet of ground to cover. And then when we find whatever we're looking for, we… what, take it?"

"I think we should report it first. Remember, our transponders work better now," Bow replied, motioning to the device in his ear. "Maybe there's something we don't know about it, and moving it will cause the planet to explode or something."

Catra blanched. It was a joke, but she didn't like the way it was phrased. "Anyway," she hurried, "how will we even know if something's magic? You don't have a magic detector like Entrapta does."

Bow shrugged. "We just note anything weird."

"We're on an alien planet," Catra scoffed. " _Everything_ is weird."

"Then we note everything," Bow replied with a chuckle.

"In that case," Catra snorted, " _you_ can take the notes."

Bow waved his tracker pad a little. "Deal."

Melog appeared, keeping herself pretty small, and cocked her head at Catra with a meow. _Have you forgotten?_

Catra blinked. "Oh, yeah," she said after a moment. "Melog can sense magic. I can just ask her when we get there. I totally forgot."

"How did we both forget?" Bow laughed, bemused, and reached out to pat Melog. "Sorry about that. You'll do that for us, then?"

Melog meowed. _The fact that you felt the need to ask shows a lack of insight._

Catra smirked. "She said yes."

With that, the conversation lulled and she turned to look out the window at the passing throng of people and machines. In a way, this place reminded her of the Fright Zone. Sure, it was cold and dark and not a fantastic place to grow up, but there was nostalgia there. She remembered a little nook in a rundown wall that was next to a heating unit, and how she curled up there as a child when it was cold at night. She hid there sometimes, too. That little nook was all hers, and she remembered it in detail.

Out of his window, Bow saw storefronts passing slowly by, facades of metal and brick and stone, disparate, messy. It reminded him of the Fright Zone, too, but he had fewer good memories there. Rather, _no_ good memories there. It simply shoved him back into that focused, sharpened worry that he felt whenever he was there - and it didn't hurt that the parallels were more than visual. He rubbed his face, pushing the feeling away, and leaned his head back on the strange material of the headrest. "So…" he began, looking over at Catra. "I have a question."

Catra turned towards him and folded her arms, raising an eyebrow and saying nothing.

"Do you guys have pet names yet?"

"Pet names?" She narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean? We don't have a pet." At this, Melog appeared, narrowing her eyes at Bow as well.

"No, no! That's not -" Bow's eyes widened. "You don't know about pet names either? Man, there are a lot of details we need to teach you about."

Catra eased a little. "Well? Explain it."

"Oh, you know," Bow replied. "Like… baby, honey, sugar. I dunno, stuff like that."

"Like a nickname."

"In a way?" Bow frowned. "I don't think I'm doing a very good job of explaining it."

Catra looked back to her window. "Honey would probably fit Adora best. 'Cause she's blonde."

"Well, that's not - see, the point is that they're interchangeable? So you can actually call her anything, uh, that's not her name. As long as it's nice." He looked down at Melog as she climbed into Catra's lap and curled up.

"Oh, I already do that. I call her an idiot."

"N-no, remember, it has to be nice."

"That _is_ nice. It's a nice version of idiot." Catra's ears perked up. "Hey, wait, why would you call someone a baby? That's not nice. Babies are horrible."

Bow couldn't hold back his laughter. "No! That's not why you call them a baby! It's because babies are cute!" He wiped his eye. "I think."

Catra scoffed, allowing herself a little smirk. "Call Glimmer 'baby.' See if she appreciates it." After a moment, she let herself laugh along with Bow, and then it faded. She looked down at Melog and placed a gentle hand on her head. "... You think I should try it?"

"What do you have to lose?" Bow replied. Melog stepped silently out of Catra's lap and padded over to sit next to Bow. He smiled a little and reached down to pet her. "I'm going to try it today with Glimmer. Though some couples aren't into it. You'll just have to go for it and see how it feels."

Catra laughed. "You're making it sound like a big deal."

It was good to hear her laugh after yesterday. "Yeah, I guess."

As they turned again to their windows, Melog looked up at Catra and meowed lowly: _I know you were worried about this boy. But he is honest and kindhearted._

Catra peered down at Melog and folded her arms again, thinking. That compulsion returned, those memories of her unfocused, gleeful, terrified, pulling the switch. Could she ever? Even just Bow and not Glimmer? Could she summon the nerve?

Perhaps not. She turned to the window again, clutching her forearms a little tighter. Then, she saw it, displayed at its full length in a smudged store window. "Stop!" she called, and the driver hurried to the curb.

Bow whipped around. "What?" he cried, his voice breaking, and reached for his bow.

"Look!" Catra shouted, pointing out the back window to the store they passed. There, glinting in the sunlight, was a long metal whip, glossy and beckoning.

Bow's readiness slipped away as he saw what she was pointing at. The driver turned around and pointed at the meter, which was only at 3. Bow sighed a little and took out the stack of paper slips. "Do you have change?"

As Catra scrambled over him out of the vehicle, Bow glared. "What?" Catra said, adjusting her shirt. "I'm gonna get that whip. We can find another car."

"I assume we're going to spend the mission allowance for it?"

"We sure are. What, did you have something better to use it on?"

"Uh, emergencies?" Bow folded his arms. "That's what it's for. And food and transportation -"

"Let's just see how much it is first." Catra grabbed his wrist and pulled him after her. "You have to learn to live a little."

Bow frowned as he was dragged across the street, forcing the vehicles to stop one by one accompanied by their incessant honking. He was pretty sure he was part of this team in order to keep Catra from getting distracted. Thus far, he was not doing a great job. "Catra, we may not have a lot of time to do our job. We can't get distracted."

"We're just going to check the price," Catra said as they reached the other side of the street. "Just to see. And then we get going."

The shop's windows, other than the main one, were blocked by bars, and the door was heavy steel, covered in locks both digital and physical. Bow held up his tracker pad to read the signs: PAWN HERE, TRADE HERE, WEAPON LICENSE, NO DRINKING ON THE PREMISES. He peered around at the dark interior of the shop as Catra confidently pushed on through. He looked around and noticed that Melog had vanished, and became conscious of where he was stepping.

The woman standing behind the counter was an Aquarian, like the one woman back on the Outpost, and one of her arms had been replaced by a series of pumps, pipes, and plating that seemed roughly like an arm. Catra suppressed a smirk. This planet always managed to give her a corner or two where she felt comfortable. Here, she would start to look around, seeming uninterested, before bringing up the whip after a couple minutes -

"How much is the whip in the window?" Bow asked, already reaching for the money in his pocket.

Catra closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"The tungsten carbide lash?"

"No, the _other_ whip in the window," Catra retorted. "Yes, that one. The metal one. How much?"

The woman folded her arms. "Got a buyer who'll pay two hundred marks for it. You'll have to beat that by at least fifty."

Catra turned to Bow with a glare that she hoped conveyed her sincere disappointment. Not just in the price, but also in that he didn't know how to haggle even a little bit. "We'll be back," she grumbled halfheartedly to the woman, and then stalked out of the shop.

Bow hurried along, keeping an eye on the woman behind the counter as he left. "Well," he began. "Looks like we'll have to get it later."

"She already has a buyer." Catra glanced back at the whip in the window. She felt a mischievous smile tug at the corners of her mouth. This had a simple solution.

Bow noticed. "Catra…"

But Catra whistled shortly and reached down, then vanished.

Bow watched, mostly in shock, partly in embarrassment, as an oval hole was slowly carved into the shop's window. The cut piece of glass fell to the ground with a clatter, the whip vanished, and Bow heard Catra whisper "Run." So, with a groan, he did. "I wish my friends would stop doing crimes," he mumbled.

* * *

Scorpia had to turn and squeeze to get through the small metal door of the train. She'd never been on one before, but her first impression was that it was cramped. Sure, she was tall - pretty tall - very tall, even, but mostly that wasn't a problem. She just had to duck through doorways sometimes. But a train was like a little metal tube full of people you really have to try to not hit with your claws, and it was a lot of work.

She and Adora were heading to the second-furthest point of interest. Adora only took about ten minutes to read the train map (even though to Scorpia it looked like a net of lines and dots) and learn the system in order to buy the right tickets. She also hadn't looked at the holo-pad Entrapta had given her even once. As soon as they boarded, she found her way to their seats, two across from one another in a compartment along one of the cars, despite the seat numbers being written in alien symbols.

"That was impressive," Scorpia said, ducking into the compartment and taking a seat.

"What was?"

"You know, figuring out how the train works so fast. We can't even read the writing. Unless it's like that magic thing you do with First Ones runes."

"No, no," Adora laughed. "I just read the map as a map. It's, uh… I have a head for it, I guess." She handed Scorpia her ticket, and Scorpia took it carefully. She was never very good with paper. "And I haven't forgotten about our little side mission," she added with a smirk.

Scorpia blanked. "What?"

"I'm keeping an eye out. Though there are, like, a _lot_ of people around here, and I never asked your type, so I'm mostly looking for my type and we probably don't have the same type."

"Oh. That's -" Scorpia felt herself flush. "That's, uh…"

Adora stared for a solid five seconds. "Oh! Sorry, should I not be involved with this sort of thing? It's new to me. I don't know if there's etiquette, or -"

"Well, it's less - _that_ , and more that it won't work." Scorpia glanced through the window of the thin, closed door as other passengers walked by. The train began to rumble to life and move slowly down the track. "I have - I only really get a crush when I know someone for a long time."

Adora blinked. "Oh. Really?" She put a hand nervously on her cheek. "I didn't know. I get crushes _real_ fast. I mean, I _used_ to," she added quickly. "It hasn't, uh, happened recently."

"You knew Catra your whole life," Scorpia started. "So you have to know what I mean, right? It's… I guess it's about getting used to the little details of someone else." Her voice fell a little as the train reached its normal speed. "In the Horde, you know, you don't tend to get that kind of thing. They didn't appreciate it."

Adora stopped the memories before they could start. "Yeah, I know," she murmured, a little wistfully, a little apologetically.

"And… oh, gosh, I probably shouldn't tell you this. It's embarrassing."

"I mean, I didn't ask you to -"

"Okay, last night, I think I might have started to, uh," she continued, nervously rubbing her pincers together. "I think I like Entrapta."

Adora gritted her teeth. "Ah, that's actually not…"

"I know," she replied lowly, feeling a shallow sigh as she turned to stare out the window. The buildings were passing quickly now, breaking periodically to reveal a city block or a small, browning park. "She sends him messages at night. But… we spent the better part of a year together. We got to know one another. It just… happened."

"Man, that's a bad streak," Adora admitted, leaning forwards on her knees. "Who do you know well that's single…?" She rubbed her chin, thinking. Scorpia also leaned forwards on her knees and started thinking. After a good quiet thirty seconds, Adora brightened and shot the smuggest look up at Scorpia.

Scorpia frowned. "Wh-what?"

"Who do you know well that's single?"

"That's what I'm working on right now. Was that not what we were doing?"

Adora grinned. "Perfuma!"

"What?" Scorpia scoffed and waved a claw. "No, that's -"

Adora watched as Scorpia completely shut down, staring right through her. She blinked. "Are, uh… are you okay?" She leaned forwards a little and waved. "Scorpia?"

Scorpia shook her head a little and flushed. A barrage of memories came back, most of them warm and lovely, some of them hollow and frightening. "I - I think you just gave me a crush on Perfuma."

"Wait, no," Adora retorted. "You can't just _give_ someone a crush like that. Obviously you already had it and I just revealed it to you."

She recalled Perfuma's concerned face, half obscured by the hologram over the table in the Meeting Room, as she broached the subject that Scorpia would have preferred stay unmentioned. "I hope not," she replied, her voice falling.

Adora picked up on her tone. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, no," Scorpia groaned, putting her claws over her face. "I'm such an idiot."

"Hey," Adora said, reaching out to lay a gentle hand on her claw. "What's wrong?"

Scorpia pursed her lips and lowered her pincers back to her knees. She looked up at Adora, thought better of it, and turned to stare out the window. "We danced a little at the celebration. She asked."

Adora didn't interrupt. The feeling of Catra against her as they danced floated up from the back of her mind, and she felt that familiar pang of empathy.

"The rest of the week before we left, I… I didn't talk to her." She lowered her head a little. "I think I avoided her. And I hope you're not right, because I know why I'd do that."

"Why?"

She glanced over at Adora again, and then down at Adora's hand, still on her claw, then back out the window. "Second day after we won, I headed out to the Fright Zone," she began with a sigh. "It was beautiful. Really green, lots of flowers. I didn't… I didn't even recognize it. But I remember I made my way into the Headquarters. Grass all over the floor, breaking through the metal. And I made my way through to my old room to grab some stuff, my photos mostly, whatever I could put in my pockets. And I made my way up to the Observation Deck."

Adora looked out the window as well. Shadows rolled across her face as they passed ragged buildings between the train and the morning sun. Another memory - dozens of them. All the times she and Catra found some time and climbed up to the Observation Deck, and how they would stay up to watch the moon through the smoke and laugh without anyone glaring at them. Sometimes she wondered if, in another timeline, she might have kissed her then. And how that might have gone.

But she snapped to attention as Scorpia continued. "And from up there," she said, "you could see the whole thing. There was no more smoke. It was quiet, other than birds. Birds, in the Fright Zone." She saw a smile flicker across Scorpia's face, but it was brief. "And I realized then, you know, Perfuma would like this. I could imagine myself showing it to her, and all of a sudden, I could imagine us together. Years of it."

When Scorpia hesitated, Adora scooted forwards on her seat. "Why… didn't you?"

"Because then I would be the Princess of the Fright Zone," she replied lowly. The phrase hit her like a punch to the gut. It dawned on her that she'd avoided it so carefully for these last few weeks; the idea itself unsettled her in a specific and unfamiliar way. "Adora, I don't give directions. I listen to them. I - I mean, I was a Force Captain because I can use a tank and because my grandfather struck a deal with Hordak when I was a baby. I'm a Princess, sure. I'm not a leader."

Adora opened her mouth to respond, but waited for a moment instead.

"If I asked her," Scorpia continued, "she could have said no. And then I would have been, you know, really sad for a while, but I'd have an excuse to go to space with you guys. On the other hand, if she'd said yes… I wouldn't ever leave." She flushed, and that daydream returned in force. Perfuma now, wrapped in her embrace, returning it, looking up with that unmistakable look, and: _I love you_.

Adora frowned. The problem was, Scorpia was basically right. She didn't have that knack for organization. Ah, but there was the solution as well. She didn't need it. "Scorpia," she began, "what do you think leading is?"

"That's a good question," Scorpia chuckled. "I guess it's solving problems, making compromises… uh, knowing… how the economy works?"

Adora snorted and giggled. "Well, sort of. We can help you with all that."

"I thought about that. I would, but I can't keep asking you for help twenty, thirty years down the line. I wouldn't do that to you. People who lead… have to be leaders."

"But your definition is missing something." She put her other hand on Scorpia's claw as well. "Heart." She smiled. "I love Bow, and I love Glimmer, and I love Entrapta, and I _love_ Catra, but out of all of us, you have the most… _resolutely_ kind heart."

She saw tears at the corners of Scorpia's eyes, but Scorpia didn't say anything. Instead, she leaned in, pretty predictably, for a hug. "You're a really good friend, Adora."

"Just don't start crushing on me," Adora said with a chuckle.

Scorpia let her go and wiped a tear away. "You're smart, you know? Really. I - I needed to hear that. The only other time I have was… actually, it was Perfuma."

"Scorpia…" Adora warned.

"No, I promise, I do not have a crush on you. Unless - does that sound mean? That's not what I meant. I just mean, for sure, that -"

Adora laughed. "I know, I know. I'm just messing with you."

* * *

_What's going on, Adora? Swift Wind here for another really fast soul message. Actually, this one might take a while. I hope this doesn't, like, interrupt you or something. We really should do experiments about it when you get back._

_Well, first things first, I decided I'm not going to help Micah anymore. I did go check out Clonia. When I got there, there were_ hundreds _of Bright Moon guards. I figured they only had thirty or so, but apparently they had a bunch hidden somewhere. I got suspicious and I scouted around all spy-like and I watched what they were doing. Fortunately, not too much. They were stopping all the clones and asking them stuff one at a time, though, and I think they were starting to get angry about it. I mean, at least they weren't hurting anyone, but that's still a gross overreach of establishment power, right?_

_That's when I started thinking. Even if we should catch Hordak - and I don't really know about that right now - this is still a lot, right? These clones mostly seem pretty reasonable, especially since they were in an actual cult less than a month ago. Some of them were really happy to see me, too! Maybe 'cause they'd never seen a flying horse, but… that's a valid reason to be happy to see me!_

_Anyway. After a couple days, all the guards started leaving. So obviously I followed them. Most of them went in different directions, on patrol I guess, but a handful headed back to Bright Moon, and then I had my best idea. I was going to spy on Micah, which I did. He never even figured out I was there, and I picked up on a lot of stuff._

_First, he needs a hug. Second, apparently, they got a transmission recently from outer space! Which is where you are. I suppose it makes sense that now that we're here in real space, other people from real space would want to contact us. Sort of took them a while, though. It definitely caused a flurry in Bright Moon. Micah called all the Princesses together to talk about it, and I was sneaking around super quiet just outside the door. Most of the Princesses want to be friendly, but Micah and Frosta especially seem really concerned._

_I didn't get to hear everything, though. 'Cause that's around the time I was officially introduced to Double Trouble, who decided to make their first impression by transforming into me. It worked. I'm smitten. Double Trouble is my favorite. Also, we're both spies, so we're best friends now. From what I gathered, Micah hired them to sneak around in case the aliens try to come here? But that seems like it's not happening any time soon, so they're just on the payroll and otherwise not doing much. They were like "Do you wanna cause some trouble?" and I was like "Of course" so for the past couple days whenever I've had time we've just been playing pranks as the Princesses talk things out and draw up plans._

_I'm a little worried. It seems so serious. I think it would be easier if you guys were here. Also, I'm having fun with Double Trouble, but it's really not the same. I miss you guys a lot. And I want to show you what I did with part of the Flower Fields. The Swift Wind Free Range. Next step is teaching everyone how to talk. Which you might also be able to help with._

_So, signing off. Uh, over and out. And if you can send a soul mail back, you know… that would be nice._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for sticking to the fic! This chapter came out PRETTY late, mostly because I've opened up art commissions. Speaking of art, I have some canon art this update! You can find it below. Remember, you can get access to this art and other stuff on the discord server!
> 
> THE ROOF  
> https://i.imgur.com/6tMIQ8s.png


	15. CHAPTER XII: Comedy of Errors

The train rumbled to a stop sometime later. Adora hadn't been keeping track of the time. Her conversation with Scorpia had veered into different directions - they reminisced about the Princess Prom, and that led to their new outfits, and that led to Scorpia listing clothes they passed in the storefronts that could be fun to try out. They took a hard right back into Perfuma and Catra, and recounted the first time they'd met them. Adora found a somewhat reasonable position to ask about Scorpia's tail, and Scorpia made a joke, and they'd laughed. In a group, Scorpia was usually amicable, but never drove the conversation. But one on one, it was different.

By the time they arrived, the conversation had moved to a completely new place. "Because if you think about it," Adora was saying, "how _flexible_ is time? Just because it hasn't moved backwards _yet_ doesn't mean it _couldn't_ move backwards."

"You're blowing my mind," Scorpia replied, leaning forwards.

"We already have magic that can do weird stuff. Maybe with enough magic, you can go into the past thousands of years," Adora added. "Wouldn't that be crazy? What did Etheria look like three thousand years ago?" The train buzzed, and through their transponders, they heard the name of the station over the intercom. "Oh! That's us. We gotta go." She pulled her hood up and held the door open for Scorpia.

"Could you also go into the future?" Scorpia asked as she carefully made her way through the tight tunnel of people. "And how far? Could you go _all the way_ into the future?"

"Woah," Adora muttered. "What would that even _be?_ "

The conversation suddenly halted as they stepped out into the hot midmorning and a strong smell hit them. The raised platform they were on was occupied by an old, vandalized, rusting train station, and beyond that, garbage to the horizon. Stalks of broken and unrecognizable junk stuck out like unnatural trees from mounds of sun-hardened rubber and rotting wood and shattered glass and vegetable mush all the way to the subtle ridge of more buildings in the far distance.

Adora and Scorpia glanced at one another from the railing, realizing suddenly what they'd be spending the next several hours doing. "Well," Adora began, "the signal came from right around here. Let's get started."

She held her hand out to transform. It was easy enough this time that she didn't need her mantra. A nervous sort of focus settled over her as She-Ra arrived, and she cast a final glance at the departing train.

Scorpia watched as Adora closed her eyes. She never really asked what She-Ra could do - she knew her powers included, for example, picking up tanks and hitting really hard with a magic sword, but anything beyond that was sort of fuzzy still. It might have been wise to ask about it on the flight over, actually. "So you're doing what, exactly?"

"That's a good question," Adora admitted. "The idea is that She-Ra can see magic, or sense it, or something. And it's _sort of_ true. I get a feeling around powerful magic. But apparently this source wasn't very powerful at all." She sighed and reached down for her satchel, but it wasn't there. She gasped. "Did I leave my bag on the train?"

"I think, uh… She-Ra just sort of absorbed it," Scorpia replied.

Adora frowned. "I never thought about it before," she muttered, and transformed back to grab the holo-pad Entrapta had let them borrow. "How did she say this thing worked? I should have taken notes. I was too busy studying the map."

Scorpia looked over her shoulder. "I - I don't remember. She said a lot of terms and they all just, uh, went away as soon as we left."

"Uh, m-menu," Adora mumbled, tapping at the screen. "Hold on. There's a directory. Why did she have to make it so complicated?"

"Hey, take your time," Scorpia said, patting Adora on the shoulder. "We have a few hours."

"I just -" Adora stopped herself and sighed. She didn't recognize what was going on with the screen at all. Everything Entrapta made was so different from Horde tech, and always so strangely unintuitive. Directory, scans? Which opened up a new screen she didn't recognize…

"I'm gonna get down there and start looking around. Maybe it'll be obvious. Or you'll feel something. Right?" Scorpia gestured to the thin metal stairs nearby. "I'd help with the holo-pad, but, uh… pincers."

Adora followed her into the dump, still poking uselessly at the holo-pad. The ground was spongy and wet and it struck her how large the piles of trash must be. If the scan had picked up on something a hundred years old, it would be buried under ten, twenty feet of the stuff. She scowled at the loose thought and tried something else with the holo-pad.

In the meantime, Scorpia tugged what looked like a broken bedframe out of a nearby pile and tossed it away, peering into the hole it left. "Does magic glow? It usually does, right?" When Adora didn't respond, she turned. "Adora?"

"Did you find something that glows?" Adora muttered, staring at the screen.

"N-no, I was just making sure."

Adora grumbled and stepped over to sit down on the station stairs. "Okay, so… menu, directory, scans. These are folders," she murmured, opening one. "Oh! Here it is! Satellite scan! I think that has to be it, right? She was talking about that!"

"Nice! I knew you could do it," Scorpia said with a broad smile and headed over just as Adora's face fell.

"The screen went black."

"Is - is it scanning?"

"It's not anything," Adora replied lowly. "It just went black." She stared at it for a second and scowled. This was her fault. She should have taken notes. Only one way around it - time to investigate the old-fashioned way. She stood and put the holo-pad back in her bag, walking silently forwards into the landfill.

Scorpia reached out a claw, but hesitated. She didn't really know how Adora responded to niceties, and she'd seen firsthand how that could hurt rather than help. So she hurried alongside her and started to do what she was doing - dig through the garbage.

A couple minutes passed, then a couple more. It was hot, confusing, physical work. Drudgery. Scorpia kept an eye on Adora, who wiped her hands on her pants to take out her notepad from time to time and write something down. Her expression was unreadable.

After a good ten minutes of shovelling around looking for something that neither of them would recognize, Scorpia decided to try to start up their conversation again. Even if it wasn't very deep, it could at least relieve some tension. "So… were you, uh, also surprised the first time someone gave you vegetables?"

She glanced over with a friendly smile and was relieved when Adora turned back with a little smile of her own. Adora shook her head a little and her smile fell. "Sorry, I've been too quiet, haven't I? I'm, uh…" She wiped her hands off and rubbed her temple. "I'm a little frustrated."

"Yeah, I get you," Scorpia replied. "Do I ever."

"It's not just this." Adora folded her arms, looking around at the garbage. It seemed infinite. "Though this doesn't _help_. I didn't take notes, I don't have a backup plan, She-Ra isn't working the way I want her to -" She dug the notepad out of her bag again. "Look at this! I came up with more than sixty contingencies over the week before we left and even more on the way over and not a _single one_ has come up! It's like I completely planned wrong!"

Scorpia blinked. She didn't really expect a rant, but at least it wasn't directed at her.

"There has _not_ been a fire. Bow has _not_ lost his bow or either one of his arms. No alien has attacked us on sight, no one has stolen all our money, and the ship hasn't exploded! Instead, all that's happened is floundering! We're floundering!" She put a hand over her eyes and sighed dramatically.

"Hey, we have that thing tomorrow. That'll help," Scorpia offered.

"... Yeah. You're right. That's our next goal. I just feel like I've got no control over this. If the people we're meeting with don't like us, we're back to square one, and I have _no_ idea how to plan for it. And yest-" She stopped herself, shrinking a little. "Yesterday, I was so lost."

The memory returned to Scorpia, accompanied by the sharp fear and worry. "We all were."

"But I'm - I'm her girlfriend." Adora's voice was clipped and thin. "I should know what to do, right? I should be able to help her."

"You can't put that on yourself," Scorpia said, finally walking over. "I know… from experience," she admitted lowly, glancing at the ground. "Sometimes, you need to learn something before you can help. And sometimes, only someone else can help."

Adora felt her eyes start to sting. She _knew_ that Scorpia was right, but she didn't _feel_ it. Last night confused and terrified her in more than one way, and the most pressing was the potential of it happening again. She knew, intuitively, that She-Ra couldn't heal it, and she had no idea how else to address it. What if it happened every day and never stopped? How long would it take for Catra to stop being Catra? And why was Adora so _useless?_

"Adora?"

She startled and felt tears on her cheeks. "No, you're right," she murmured, quickly wiping her eyes.

Scorpia could tell Adora didn't quite believe her. "Come here," she said, and lifted her bodily into a tight embrace. "Sorry about the garbage claws," she added. "You just need a hug."

Adora couldn't help but laugh, and those worries flattened and faded, just a little. "You _do_ hug a lot."

"I do." Scorpia set her down again and grinned. "Just, you know… your friends are here for you, okay? Don't forget."

"Yeah." Adora wiped at her eyes again. It wasn't perfect, but it helped. "Thanks, Scorpia."

"Hey, let's get back to it," Scorpia replied, patting her shoulder. "And maybe if you're She-Ra, something magical will jump out at you."

Adora nodded. Until now, she hadn't felt She-Ra at all, but now she felt a flickering confidence and held out her hand. "For -" She stopped and glanced over at Scorpia, who watched with a broad smile. "For the honor of Grayskull."

* * *

Bow heard her laughing well before he decided to slow down. He managed to weave through the crowds for a few blocks before he was winded and then came to a stop to catch his breath.

"That was great! You can really book it, huh?" Catra asked, phasing back into visibility and slapping him on the shoulder. She was short of breath, too, but still laughing. "Not that I had a hard time keeping up," she added, leaning against the dusty brick wall nearby. She held out the whip, still curled into a coil. "Got it, though."

"Catra," Bow began, wiping his forehead. "We don't steal."

" _You_ don't steal." Catra smirked over at him and slowly began to unfurl the whip. "'Course, I have no idea why."

"Because it's _wrong_ , Catra," Bow replied simply. "I don't need to explain that."

"Oh, she'll be fine. If it was so valuable, she wouldn't have kept it in a window at the front of the store."

Bow sighed and put a hand on his head. "That's not the point. But I'm not going to be able to convince you to give it back. I would feel a lot better if you didn't steal anymore, though."

Catra frowned. "Didn't we talk about this? You're the straitlaced, nice one. The square. And I'm not."

"Okay, but I really can't get behind _just_ _stealing_ ," Bow returned, his voice hardening a little. Catra recognized it - where Glimmer would start to shout, Bow's voice would suddenly become deep and serious. But after a moment, he just groaned and turned away. "It's been kind of stressful lately, and it would mean a lot to me if you promised to stay out of trouble. Okay?"

Catra scoffed. "We're not in trouble," she chuckled.

"Catra."

"Alright," she cried, hanging the whip on her belt. "I'll stop."

Bow turned back and offered a small, sort of cheeky smile. "You promise?"

"No promises. I'll just try," Catra replied, returning his little smirk. "That's all you're gonna get out of an ex-villain."

As Bow laughed, shook his head, and turned to find another car for them, her remark settled on her in a heavy, uncomfortable way. She glanced at the ground, kicking an old rusty can into the gutter as the swarms of strangers passed. The neon signs behind glass panes far above blinked down at her. Ex-villain. It wasn't even six months ago.

She felt a nudge on her back and turned a little. Melog was back to her most comfortable size, standing about as tall as Catra, standing mostly hidden in a cluttered, shadowy alleyway. _The language I can relate to you is limited,_ she began. _You do not have a word for the emotion you feel. It is fear and guilt and melancholy, and layers of other emotions. I experience it as a wave._

"I know," Catra grumbled, folding her arms. Suddenly, her thin, loose shirt made her feel less free and more vulnerable. "You gonna impart any sage advice or just tell me what I'm already feeling?"

_Do not discount the value of a being that can so closely empathize with you,_ Melog returned with a little hiss. _Most species are like yours, and can communicate dreadfully little. That is my 'sage advice.'_

Her immediate instinct was to snap back, but when she turned, she saw Melog's face, wrought with concern like her own despite her tone. That instinct to snap was overcome by another. "S-sorry, Melog," Catra murmured, pressing her cheek against Melog's. "I'm just…"

_I understand._

"I know."

"Catra! We got one!" Bow shouted over the crowd, waving his hands. "Come on, before he leaves!"

Melog nuzzled back and vanished, and Catra shook her head as though to clear her thoughts before heading over. She stared out the window as Bow talked to the driver, distracted. She felt Melog, shrunk down significantly, settle into her lap and absentmindedly reached a hand down to pet her. When it grew quiet, she rubbed her cheek and, without turning around: "So… what do you… think about that?"

"What?" Bow replied. "Think about what?"

"You know." Catra tapped her claws against the door's shallow armrest. "Ex-villain."

"Oh," Bow returned, sounding somewhat surprised. "I haven't thought about it in weeks."

Catra opened her mouth as though to reply but lost the words. She turned to the window again and absentmindedly scratched at the armrest.

"Have _you_ been thinking about it?"

She clicked her tongue. "Uh, yes! Bow! It hasn't even been a month!" She glared at him. If only she could see through his positivity to some cynical selfishness behind it. But she couldn't because there wasn't one. And it was aggravating. "I still…" She trailed off, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Bow stared for a moment, watching Catra pick the woven padding from the armrest on the door. "You know," he began lowly. "Before Glimmer was abducted, she was the one who pulled us out of Despondos. She activated the Heart. After we already told her it was dangerous."

Catra paused. She knew that. She and Glimmer had talked about it on Horde Prime's ship after the first awkward week. She didn't know what to say then and she didn't know what to say now.

"In a way," Bow continued, "that's what led to Prime invading and… everything that came with that." He shook his head. It wasn't pleasant to remember, and it was even worse to say. "But Glimmer is still my best friend. And I still love her." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "You know, forgive and forget."

Catra blinked.

"Never heard that one before, huh." Bow shook his head. "Well, maybe you ought to give it a try."

Catra turned back to the window, saying nothing, picking at the armrest. The next ten minutes were quiet as Catra considered it and started to daydream.

It didn't seem like any time had passed before the vehicle came to a stop. Catra wandered out as Bow paid the driver, and she glanced up and around at the buildings. It was as though they hadn't gone anywhere at all. Everything blended together here into a soup of greyish buildings and vacant lots.

"Alright, the signal came from around here somewhere," Bow was saying as the vehicle left. "My tracker pad says it came from this area here," he added, gesturing to a large tenement building in front of them, its weathered facade breaking apart along the corners to reveal dry, sunbeaten brick. "But the signal was sort of vague. I guess we could just go through the building and start asking people?"

Catra sighed. "That sounds like a lot of busywork." She stared up at the building and framed it in her fingers. "And a waste of time. Think about it. If there's so little magic here that people think magic isn't even real, someone who _does_ have magic would keep it locked away. It's not like we're going to knock on a door and be handed a magical artifact or something."

"That's true," Bow replied. "Though we could probably mark down anyone who seems suspicious when we ask."

"Only a bad liar or a bystander would react suspiciously. And you can't be a bad liar while keeping something like magic hidden from everyone else." She turned. "Plus, you really think _you_ can pick out who's acting suspicious and who's not? Mr. Benefit-Of-The-Doubt?"

Bow scratched his cheek. "You got me there. So what do we do?"

"Really, we just let Melog sniff around. If we have to crack open some windows, maybe that's what we have to do." Catra looked up at the side of the building, flexing her hands to prepare for climbing. "Tell you what. You can start asking around, as long as you stay subtle about it. And Melog and I will start at the top floor."

"I'm not too sure about that, either," Bow admitted, putting his trackerpad away. "Isn't that illegal, too?"

Catra felt her eyebrow twitch. "Listen, I don't actually care about finding magic," she snapped. "If you want it done, we'll get it done. But if -" She stopped herself, recognizing her tone. "I'll be very careful, okay?"

Bow frowned, considering it. It wasn't _that_ immediately harmful or dangerous. "Alright," he agreed tentatively. "But that's -"

Catra was already hopping up the side of the building, Melog shrunk to the size of a fist perched with magically perfect balance on her shoulder.

"Right," he murmured. He glanced around at the sparse crowd and took his tracker pad out again. "Think I might be a glorified secretary."

* * *

The ride was short but heavy with the silence Glimmer had created. Two thoughts fought in her mind. She wanted, almost desperately, to be friendly with Entrapta. Every second that she hadn't apologized drove her further into an unclear guilt. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to do it. What she'd said about Hordak had turned her stomach. Even without everything _else_ he'd done, Hordak had banished her father to Beast Island for years, had started a war that ravaged her home. The word _love_ was inapplicable.

So she stewed, pacing for a few minutes before deciding to shut herself into the storage room. She left the lights off and just barely managed to avoid thinking about her mother.

Then, the ship came to a stop and the intercom buzzed a little. "Glimmer? We're here."

She sighed and rubbed her face. Not only had she not come to a decision, she had no idea how she was ever going to.

She stepped out of the storage room and looked through the viewport out at the monotony of buildings, blinking neon and flashing alien symbols. Entrapta, her visor still lowered, was standing at the dash, projecting a dim map onto one of Darla's holo-screens. "How precisely can you track magic from this distance?" Glimmer asked.

"The proximity doesn't help. See, the setup I'm using is similar to triangulation. I have plenty of points of reference, but I'm still only going to get a vague area, regardless of whether we're near the area or not. Fortunately, it's only about a block or so both horizontally and vertically, so we don't have to do a lot of exploration."

Glimmer tuned most of it out. "We'll start in the center."

Entrapta gently lowered Darla onto a broad stretch of street as vehicles honked all around them, then hurried out alongside Glimmer and sent the ship floating back up into the air. She looked up and around at the city, noting that the technology plastered to the sides of buildings and making up the storefronts around here were somewhat rudimentary, almost slapped together. Not that that was too unfamiliar to her. She also looked over at Glimmer, who seemed angry at her. "You seem angry at me," she offered, her voice low.

Glimmer adjusted her cape. "No, that's not it," she said, closing her eyes. "I'm not angry at _you_ , I'm just - I'm… just thinking." She put her hands together and hummed tunelessly. It didn't work very well. "Anyway. Where do we start?"

"The center of the potential area is directly ahead," Entrapta replied, pointing. Before them was a wide building with arched windows and a sloped, tiled roof, shorter than the buildings nearby but built under what looked like some sort of midair bridge between two taller structures. The building slumped as though tired, and the double front doors opened into a dimly-lit interior.

"Right," she muttered, and strode forwards.

The scent hit her before her eyes adjusted. Smoke, the sharp scent of alcohol, something sweet and oily. Wet wood, mildew, the daily traffic of a thousand people. It was some sort of bar, pretty full even despite the time of day. The tinny sound of music played over some speakers nearby and the walls were coated in posters and lights and signs and unrecognizable miscellany. Some of the patrons, sporting twisted and unpolished technological body modifications, turned to stare at her as she entered.

_Whatever_ , she thought. _I've done this before_. She pulled an empty chair from nearby and stood on it. "Could I have everyone's attention?" she shouted.

She at least expected it to be a little quieter. But there was barely a reaction. She was sure she was loud enough, and turned, confused, to Entrapta. Entrapta only shrugged.

"I am Queen Glimmer of Etheria," she called, trying to be even louder, "and I'm willing to pay for information." That turned a few heads, and she continued confidently: "Anyone who has seen anything suspicious, maybe something that you can't explain, come talk to me. I won't be here long."

"You wanna shut up?" came a harsh voice from the bar. The bartender was a tall, bearded man with some sort of metal braces around his neck, reaching down to his chest and disappearing beneath his shirt, and he paired his rebuke with a particularly nasty glare. He smacked a sign on the wall behind him. "No soliciting."

"Oh," Glimmer said, peering at the alien language. "See, I'm -"

"This is an upstanding bar. Take your crazy somewhere else. Or do you need some help with that?"

Glimmer became suddenly aware of a presence behind her - another tall man, broad-shouldered, stood from a chair near the door and glared at her as well.

"Let her talk!" one of the patrons called. "Some entertainment for once!"

It all caught up with Glimmer suddenly. Of course they weren't going to believe she was a queen of a place they'd never heard of. Of course she sounded crazy. She should have tried to talk to people one-on-one - they weren't on Etheria anymore, and she couldn't get by like she usually could. Little by little, the strangers began to laugh, and she felt herself shrink.

"Fine, then," she said, tensing. "I guess no one wants my money."

"How much?" came a voice.

The question caught her off-guard. "F-fif-" She shook her head quickly. "You'll have to talk to me to -"

" _Fifty?_ " The voice erupted into laughter from somewhere in the crowd, and the rest of the crowd began to follow along. "Good luck! Maybe someone will tell you about all the _ghosts_ they've seen!"

Her cheeks burned and a furious tingle ran down her arms. "Very well," she growled, mostly to herself, and raised her hands. Sulfur Scent lived up to its namesake and she stalked back out of the bar, listening to the laughing turn to gagging and coughing behind her.

Entrapta almost tripped over herself following. She stared back through the open door as some of the patrons began to pick up on what had happened. "Glimmer? Maybe we should go?"

"Waste of my time. _Huge_ waste of my time. You try to help people, they laugh in your face." Glimmer subconsciously tugged her cape a little closer around herself. "All they had to do was listen."

"They probably didn't listen because you said things they were unfamiliar with and expected them to understand."

"Thank you, Entrapta."

"You're welcome! Also, we should definitely go, because I think one of them has some sort of weapon," Entrapta added, pointing back at the tall man who was sitting by the door. He had produced some sort of collapsible metal rod.

Glimmer glanced behind her and lazily created a Short Wall, which the tall man proceeded to trip over loudly and dramatically. Maybe she _should_ have gone with Bow. He would have probably warned her. Why didn't anyone warn her? This was a burned bridge now.

"The area is still returning a magical signal, which we could still look for if -"

"I _know_!" Glimmer snapped. She kept yelling, and never once meant to yell. It just happened. And this one came from somewhere deep down inside her. "I _know_ I messed it up, okay?" In the meantime, the large man had carefully risen to his feet, examining the invisible wall behind him. Glimmer turned away from Entrapta, subconsciously clenching a fist. "I should have thought about it first, but I figured I could just… go for it like I could back in Etheria."

"We need to go."

"Yeah," Glimmer replied with a wry chuckle. "We do."

Entrapta brought Darla down suddenly and the small collection of angry patrons stumbled backwards towards the door in surprise. When the airstairs emerged with a _thunk_ , Glimmer hurried onto the ship, and Entrapta, with a final "Sorry about that!" followed closely along.

As they lifted back into the air, Glimmer sighed and collapsed into the commander's chair, putting her head in her hands. Maybe she could send someone else out there later. Unless they'd be attacked on sight for being associated with her. "Stupid," she whispered. What would her father do? What would her _mother_ do? Probably wouldn't have left the planet at all.

Entrapta set Darla into a simple path far above the city and turned back towards Glimmer. She had been aggressive lately. Aggressive and thoughtless and rude. But sometimes people behaved like that on a bad day. And it's a friend's job to cheer their friends up. At least, that was the general idea, as she understood it. But this was not her strong suit.

She walked over to Glimmer and pat her on the head. "Feel better."

Glimmer looked up, extremely confused, and then laughed. Entrapta was doing her best, as usual. Then, she felt a tear at the corner of her eye, and her smile faded a little. Entrapta was doing her best, even after everything. "... Thanks."

"So… onto our fourth destination?"

"Yeah. Hold on, I'll contact everyone."

* * *

The patrons of the Chariot Bar and Grill watched, a mixture of furious and amazed and frightened, as the costumed women got onto a very weird ship and disappeared behind the clouds.

"What kind of ship was that?" one asked. "Minken, you know ships."

"Never seen anything like it. Do you think they made it from scratch? Bootlegged it?"

"Something that big? Nah. The feds would be on them in days."

Another voice from the back piped up as the group loosened and started to head back into the building. "Was that a _stink bomb_? That's old-school."

"That's a felony, is what it is. That's chemical warfare. We oughta call someone."

"Tirus, you've done four felonies _this week._ We're not gonna call anyone."

The staff set about turning fans on and spraying cleaning stuff on the ground and the tables, but the smell of rotten eggs lingered. Plenty of patrons simply didn't go back inside, but only one was still staring at the sky: a dark-haired woman mostly hidden with an old grey cloak, not a single body modification to be seen. To an outside observer, poor. Exceptionally poor. Poor enough that no one paid attention when she ducked into a nearby alleyway and removed a small telecoms device from somewhere inside her cloak.

"Tacitus. I have something… interesting to report."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, apologies for the significant delay. I've been getting myself involved in other projects as I've been getting into visual art. You can see my social media and all my associated projects on my linktree below. Second, I do think I might be getting back into a rhythm with this story. The contents of this chapter were, for some reason, far more difficult for me than writing usually is, but I think I that won't be the case going forwards. Because of my other projects, rather than once every 3-5 days, you can expect a chapter roughly once every 7-14 days. Thanks for sticking around through the hiatus!
> 
> https://linktr.ee/elpenor


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